In Orchidaceae, association with symbiotic fungi is required for seed germination and seedling development, thereby being the main energy source during the first steps of germination. Colombia is one of the countries with the greatest biodiversity of orchids, with an estimated 3,200 species, but few studies on orchid mycorrhiza have been conducted. In our study, we isolated and sequenced the internal transcribed spacer rDNA region of fungi from two co-occurring Colombian epiphytic orchids, I. utricularioides and P. pusilla, both belonging to the subtribe Oncidiinae. All sequences were recognized as belonging to the genus Ceratobasidium, known to be a common orchid mycorrhizal fungus in both tropical and temperate orchids. One sequence was 100% similar to... |