What is myco-heterotrophy?
What plants are mycoheterotrophic?
What fungi are involved?
What is the nature of the relationship?
What is ‘mixotrophy’?
Some local examples.
Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
Cool plants and their fungal friends
What are plants?
What are fungi?
Cool plants and their fungal friends• lichens• mycorrhizae• mycoheterotrophs and mixotrophs
What is myco-heterotrophy?
What plants are mycoheterotrophic?
What fungi are involved?
What is the nature of the relationship?
What is ‘mixotrophy’?
Some local examples.
Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
Cool plants and their fungal friends
What are plants?
What are fungi?
Cool plants and their fungal friends• lichens• mycorrhizae• mycoheterotrophs and mixotrophs
What is myco-heterotrophy?
What plants are mycoheterotrophic?
What fungi are involved?
What is the nature of the relationship?
What is ‘mixotrophy’?
Some local examples.
Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
Cool plants and their fungal friends
What are plants?
What are fungi?
Cool plants and their fungal friends• lichens• mycorrhizae• mycoheterotrophs and mixotrophs
What is myco-heterotrophy?
What plants are mycoheterotrophic?
What fungi are involved?
What is the nature of the relationship?
What is ‘mixotrophy’?
Some local examples.
Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
Cool plants and their fungal friends
What are plants?
What are fungi?
Cool plants and their fungal friends• lichens• mycorrhizae• mycoheterotrophs and mixotrophs
A fluorescent microscope image shows the location of different cell types in a bryoria lichen, cut at the ends and lengthwise through the middle. Green are the yeasts, blue are the fungi, red are the algae. (Toby Spribille)
Mycorrhiza
Greek μύκης mykēs, “fungus”
Greek ρίζα, riza, "root"
A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association composed of a fungus and roots of a vascular plant. In a mycorrhizal association, the fungus colonizes the host plant's roots, either intracellularly as in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF or AM), or extracellularly as in ectomycorrhizal fungi. The association is generally mutualistic.
What is myco-heterotrophy?
What plants are mycoheterotrophic?
What fungi are involved?
What is the nature of the relationship?
What is ‘mixotrophy’?
Some local examples.
Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
• What is myco-heterotrophy?
• What plants are myco-heterotrophic?• What fungi are involved?• Some local examples.• Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
Mycoheterotrophy
Greek μύκης mykēs, “fungus”
Greek ἕτερος heteros, “another”, “different”
Greek τροφή trophe = "nutrition", "growth”
Myco-heterotrophy is a symbiotic relationship between certain kinds of plants and fungi, in which the plant gets all or part of its food from parasitism upon fungi rather than from photosynthesis. A myco-heterotroph is the parasitic plant partner in this relationship.
Movement of carbon (black arrows) and nutrients (white arrows) in myco-heterotrophy. (from Leake and Cameron 2010)
Mycoheterotrophic plants generally …
Lack chlorophyll
Have small ‘dust’ seeds with undifferentiated embryos
Have leaves that are scale-like or absent
Have reduced vascularization of the stem
Lack stomata
Have reduced roots that lack root hairs
Have elevated δ13C and δ15N values (compared to green
plants)
Mixotrophic plants generally …
Are green
have δ13C and δ15N values between those of mycoheterotrophs and full autotrophs (regular green plants), indicating that they get some of their C and N from other plants through their fungal partner
Are related to mycoheterotrophs
What is myco-heterotrophy?
What plants are mycoheterotrophic?
What fungi are involved?
What is the nature of the relationship?
What is ‘mixotrophy’?
Some local examples.
Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
• What is myco-heterotrophy?
• What plants are myco-heterotrophic?• What fungi are involved?• Some local examples.• Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
Plant families that have evolved myco-heterotrophy.
5 species of Epirixanthes
25 species of Voyria, Voyriella,
Cotylanthera and Sebaea
Epirixanthes verticillata
Voyria parasitica
What is myco-heterotrophy?
What plants are mycoheterotrophic?
What fungi are involved?
What is the nature of the relationship?
What is ‘mixotrophy’?
Some local examples.
Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
• What is myco-heterotrophy?
• What plants are myco-heterotrophic?• What fungi are involved?• Some local examples.• Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
What fungi are involved?
Generally, myco-heterotrophic Aneuraceae
(liverworts), Orchidaceae and Ericaceae exploit
ectomycorrhizal networks while myco-
heterotrophic Burmanniaceae, Corsiaceae,
Gentianaceae, Thismiaceae and Triuridaceae
exploit arbuscular mycorrhizal networks
some myco-heterotrophic orchids are specialized on
litter- and wood-decay fungi
What is myco-heterotrophy?
What plants are mycoheterotrophic?
What fungi are involved?
What is the nature of the relationship?
What is ‘mixotrophy’?
Some local examples.
Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
• What is myco-heterotrophy?
• What plants are myco-heterotrophic?• What fungi are involved?• Some local examples.• Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
Probably most clubmosses and some ferns
•Gametophytes of most species of clubmosses and some ferns are non-photosynthetic, mycorrhizal and likely myco-heterotrophic
Running clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum)
Orchids in general•Most (perhaps all) of the 30,000 species of orchids require some sort of myco-heterotrophic arrangement with saprophytic or parasitic species of “Rhizoctonia” (Basidiomycetes) for germination of their ‘dust’ seeds
•>100 fully myco-heterotrophic species; perhaps some mixotrophs also?
Fairyslipper (Calypso bulbosa)
• Goodyera repens
has been shown to transfer significant amounts of carbon back to its mycorrhizal fungus
Coralroots (Corallorhiza species)
•Four species in southwestern BC: spotted coralroot (C. maculata), western coralroot (C. mertensiana), striped coralroot (C. striata), yellow coralroot (C. trifida), all in our area (but yellow coralroot more of an interior BC species)
•All myco-heterotrophic
•Fungal associates: –spotted coralroot, 20 species in Russulaceae –western coralroot, 3 closely related Russula species –striped coralroot, Thelephora-Tomentella species
Spotted Coralroot (C. maculata)
Phantom Orchid (Cephalanthera austiniae)
•Fully mycoheterotrophic
•Fungal associates: 14 species in Thelephora-Tomentella
Thelephora terrestris
Prince’s-Pines (Chimaphila species)
•Menzies’ pipsissewa (C. menziesii) and Prince’s Pine (C. umbellata) both in our area
•Prince’s Pine is mixotrophic
•Fungal associates: a variety of ectomycorrhizal species, including several Tricholomas
Prince’s Pine (C. umbellata)
Wintergreens (Pyrola, Moneses and Orthilia species)
•Six species of Pyrola potentially in our area
•One-sided wintergreen (Orthilia secunda)
•Single delight (Moneses uniflora)
•White-veined wintergreen (Pyrola picta), green wintergreen (Pyrola chlorantha) and one-sided wintergreen (Orthilia secunda) are demonstrated mixotrophs
•Fungal associates: a variety of ectomycorrhizal species, including several TricholomasWhite-veined wintergreen
(Pyrola picta)
Candystick (Allotropa virgata)
•Mycoheterotrophic
•Fungal associate: pine mushroom (Tricholoma magnivelare)
Gnome Plant (Hemitomes congestum)
•Mycoheterotrophic
•Fungal associate: Hydnellum peckii andH. aurantiacum
Strawberries and cream (Hydnellum peckii)
Indian-pipe (Monotropa uniflora)
•Mycoheterotrophic
•Fungal associate: Russulaceae, often short-stemmed Russula (Russula brevipes)
broad-leaved helleborine (Epipactis helleborine)
•Usually mixotrophic, but …
•Fungal associates: Pyronemataceae, Sebacina, Tomentella, Tuber
Tuber oregonense
Pinesap (Monotropa hypopitys)
•AKA Hypopitys monotropa
•Mycoheterotrophic
•Fungal associates: Tricholoma species (including T. sejunctum andT. flavovirens); European pinesap associated with European Tricholomas
Man-on-horseback (Tricholoma flavovirens)
Pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea)
•Mycoheterotrophic
•Fungal associate: Rhizopogon salebrosus, R. arctostaphyli
Rhizopogon salebrosusDaniel Mosquin photo
What is myco-heterotrophy?
What plants are mycoheterotrophic?
What fungi are involved?
What is the nature of the relationship?
What is ‘mixotrophy’?
Some local examples.
Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
• What is myco-heterotrophy?
• What plants are myco-heterotrophic?• What fungi are involved?• Some local examples.• Lessons from myco-heterotrophy.
Lessons from myco-heterotrophy
These pink and white plants are not “saprophytes”
It’s much too simplified to refer to some plants and fungi as having only one feeding preference
The world is much more complex (and interesting) than most texts would have you believe
The world is also much more complex than I’ve described tonight
Rhizopogon vinicolor
KJ Beiler, K.J., D.M. Durall, S.W. Simard, S.A. Maxwell and A.M. Kretzer. 2010. New Architecture of the Wood-Wide Web: Rhizopogon spp. Genets Link Multiple Douglas-Fir Cohorts. The New Phytologist 185(2): 543-553.