Investigation of the mycorrhizal fungi from unstudied orchid hosts and unexplored regions of Queensland

Serendipita fungi are common orchid symbionts in Australia and are well documented in Victoria, NSW and Western Australia. This project aims to discover additional novel Serendipita taxa from poorly sampled hosts in northern Australia including terrestrial (eg. Caladenia species) and epiphytic orchids (eg. Bulbophyllum species). At the completion of the project, multiple new species of Australian Serendipita fungi will be isolated and named using morphological, molecular and experimental approaches. This will increase both national and global knowledge of this important group of fungi and further ecological understanding of orchid symbioses. Orchid and mycological taxonomic expertise will be passed to an early career researcher, which will ensure the continuation of these skills in the next generation of Australian scientists. New, multiple, national Serendipita collections will ensure perpetuation of these fungi that will be accessible to researchers and managers working in soil bioremediation, sustainable agriculture and horticulture and plant conservation. The latter is of particular significance to the perpetuation of many threatened orchid taxa which are dependent on Serendipita fungi for in situ and ex situ growth.