Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Social policy and particular groups --- Orthopedagogics --- orthopedagogiek --- personen met een fysieke beperking

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

SMV:België --- SMV:psychomotorische therapie --- SMV:geschiedenis --- SMV:sociologie --- Vervoort, Marieke

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

The orchid family is the largest plant family in the world. Some of the plants are economically very important, like vanilla. Orchids are especially abundant in tropical regions where most of them grow on tree trunks and branches, so-called epiphytic orchids. Orchids are very unique as they have tiny seeds that cannot develop on their own. In order for the seeds to germinate, they need to get their food from somewhere else. This is provided by a fungus that closely associates with the seed. The fungus can extract nutrients from decaying stuff in his surrounding and deliver it to the developing seed. During the orchid’s life, fungi associate with their roots. It provides the orchids with nutrients, while the orchids may provide the fungi with sugars from photosynthesis. In this study, we sampled epiphytic orchids in the tropical rainforest of Cameroon and dried their roots to keep the fungal association intact. After sampling we tried to figure out which fungi were present in the orchid roots. Identification of the fungi was done based on genetic information that these fungi carry. Different techniques were conducted to search for this information present in the roots and determine the identity. In this way we can investigate which fungi are present and if there’s some kind of overall pattern present in the total associations. Worldwide orchids are threatened with extinction and this cooperation with fungi plays an important role in orchid maintenance. Understanding the patterns underlying these associations may help preserving the orchids themselves. We identified around 750 fungal organisms in the collected roots. Of these, however, only around 35 were identified to possibly interact with the orchids. Other fungi present in or on the roots are there without beneficial effect for the orchids. The identified orchid fungi are diverse and orchid species seem to associate with different kinds of fungi at the same time. This suggests that orchids aren’t very pic...