AN ECTOMYCORRHIZAL THELEPHOROID FUNGUS OF MALAYSIAN DIPTEROCARP SEEDLINGS

Abstract

The ectomycorrhizal Dipterocarpaceae are among the most well-known trees in the tropics and this is the most important family of timber trees in Malaysia and South-East Asia. Recent studies and molecular data reveal that members of the Thelephoraceae are common ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with the
Dipterocarpaceae. The suspected thelephoroid fungus FP160 was isolated from ectomycorrhizal roots of a Shorea parvifolia (Dipterocarpaceae) seedling and kept in the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) culture collection. In subsequent inoculation experiments it was able to form morphologically similar ectomycorrhizas with seedlings of two other dipterocarps, namely, Hopea odorata and S. leprosula, and the exotic fast-growing legume, Acacia mangium. A taxonomic identity of this fungus would benefit its possible use in inoculation
and planting programmes. This information is also important to expand our limited knowledge of Malaysian mycodiversity. In this paper the morphological characteristics of the ectomycorrhizas formed by FP160 with H. odorata and A. mangium are described and the fungus identified using molecular methods as a member of the family Thelephoraceae, most likely a Tomentella sp. It was not possible to identify the fungus more precisely due to the limited number of sequences available for tropical Thelephoraceae in the public databases.