整合生物学期刊网

Plant Diversity ›› 2026, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (01): 117-127.DOI: 10.1016/j.pld.2025.08.002

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Mycorrhizal communities in Orchidaceae are likely shaped by plant trophic mode and biogeography but not phylogeny

Deyi Wanga,b,c, Vincent S. F. T. Merckxb,d, Hans Jacquemyne, Sofia I. F. Gomesc   

  1. a Mountain Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China;
    b Understanding Evolution Group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden 2332 AA, the Netherlands;
    c Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden 2333 BE, the Netherlands;
    d Department of Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1098 XH, the Netherlands;
    e Department of Biology, Plant Conservation and Population Biology, KU Leuven, Leuven 3001, Belgium
  • 收稿日期:2025-06-04 修回日期:2025-08-04 出版日期:2026-01-25 发布日期:2026-03-05
  • 通讯作者: Deyi Wang,E-mail:deyiwang2017@outlook.com
  • 基金资助:
    We sincerely thank for the funding provided by the China Scholarship Council (Grant No. 201804910634) and the Ecology Fund of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAWWF/807/19039) to Deyi Wang.

Mycorrhizal communities in Orchidaceae are likely shaped by plant trophic mode and biogeography but not phylogeny

Deyi Wanga,b,c, Vincent S. F. T. Merckxb,d, Hans Jacquemyne, Sofia I. F. Gomesc   

  1. a Mountain Ecological Restoration and Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China;
    b Understanding Evolution Group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden 2332 AA, the Netherlands;
    c Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden 2333 BE, the Netherlands;
    d Department of Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1098 XH, the Netherlands;
    e Department of Biology, Plant Conservation and Population Biology, KU Leuven, Leuven 3001, Belgium
  • Received:2025-06-04 Revised:2025-08-04 Online:2026-01-25 Published:2026-03-05
  • Contact: Deyi Wang,E-mail:deyiwang2017@outlook.com
  • Supported by:
    We sincerely thank for the funding provided by the China Scholarship Council (Grant No. 201804910634) and the Ecology Fund of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAWWF/807/19039) to Deyi Wang.

摘要: Mycorrhizal symbioses are prevalent in terrestrial ecosystems and play essential roles in plant nutrition and health. However, the relative importance of plant evolutionary history, physiology, and eco-geographical factors in shaping mycorrhizal fungal community assembly remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate how plant phylogeny, trophic mode, biogeographic distribution and environmental niche collectively influence the diversity and composition of mycorrhizal fungal communities across the Orchidaceae, spanning broad phylogenetic and ecological scales. By using family-wide orchid-fungal associations and global occurrence data, our analyses showed that the variation in fungal diversity and community structure can be partially explained by orchids’ trophic mode, biogeographic distribution and environmental niche, but not by their overall phylogenetic relatedness. Among trophic modes, partially mycoheterotrophic orchids exhibited the highest level of fungal diversity (the lowest level of fungal specificity) in association with a broad range of phylogenetically dispersed fungal partners. Between biogeographical regions, a significantly higher level of fungal specificity was found for orchid species distributed in Australia than those in Eurasia and Africa. Furthermore, multivariate analyses showed that a small portion of the variation in fungal community structure was significantly related to broad climate, soil and vegetation variables, indicating the existence of large-scale habitat filtering on orchid mycorrhizal communities. Altogether, our findings indicate that mycorrhizal communities in the orchid family are likely shaped by multiple, intertwined factors related to orchid ecophysiology and biogeography on a global scale.

关键词: Orchid mycorrhiza, Fungal community assembly, Phylogenetic relatedness, Trophic mode, Biogeography

Abstract: Mycorrhizal symbioses are prevalent in terrestrial ecosystems and play essential roles in plant nutrition and health. However, the relative importance of plant evolutionary history, physiology, and eco-geographical factors in shaping mycorrhizal fungal community assembly remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate how plant phylogeny, trophic mode, biogeographic distribution and environmental niche collectively influence the diversity and composition of mycorrhizal fungal communities across the Orchidaceae, spanning broad phylogenetic and ecological scales. By using family-wide orchid-fungal associations and global occurrence data, our analyses showed that the variation in fungal diversity and community structure can be partially explained by orchids’ trophic mode, biogeographic distribution and environmental niche, but not by their overall phylogenetic relatedness. Among trophic modes, partially mycoheterotrophic orchids exhibited the highest level of fungal diversity (the lowest level of fungal specificity) in association with a broad range of phylogenetically dispersed fungal partners. Between biogeographical regions, a significantly higher level of fungal specificity was found for orchid species distributed in Australia than those in Eurasia and Africa. Furthermore, multivariate analyses showed that a small portion of the variation in fungal community structure was significantly related to broad climate, soil and vegetation variables, indicating the existence of large-scale habitat filtering on orchid mycorrhizal communities. Altogether, our findings indicate that mycorrhizal communities in the orchid family are likely shaped by multiple, intertwined factors related to orchid ecophysiology and biogeography on a global scale.

Key words: Orchid mycorrhiza, Fungal community assembly, Phylogenetic relatedness, Trophic mode, Biogeography