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Asymbiotic Germination and Leaf Explant-Based Regeneration of the Endangered Medicinal Orchid Hemipilia cucullata from Mature Seeds
Published on: September 19, 2025
New species of Tulasnella associated with terrestrial orchids in Australia
Celeste C Linde1, Tom W May2, Ryan D Phillips1
1Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
Abstract:
Recent studies using sequence data from eight sequence loci and coalescent-based species delimitation methods have revealed several species-level lineages of Tulasnella associated with the orchid genera Arthrochilus, Caleana, Chiloglottis, and Drakaea in Australia. Here we formally describe three of those species, Tulasnella prima, T. secunda, and T. warcupii spp. nov., as well as an additional Tulasnella species associated with Chiloglottis growing in Sphagnum, T. sphagneti sp. nov. Species were identified by phylogenetic analyses of the ITS with up to 1.3 % sequence divergence within taxa and a minimum of 7.6 % intraspecific divergence. These new Tulasnella (Tulasnellaceae, Cantharellales) species are currently only known from orchid hosts, with each fungal species showing a strong relationship with an orchid genus. In this study, T. prima and T. sphagneti associate with Chiloglottis, while T. secunda associates with Drakaea and Caleana, and T. warcupii associates with Arthrochilus oreophilus.
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