Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 85 (2): 179-186, 2012
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Mycotrophy in Gilliesieae, a threatened and poorly known tribe of Alliaceae from
central Chile
GUSTAVO A. TORRES-MELLADO, INELIA ESCOBAR, GÖTZ PALFNER & M. ANGÉLICA
The five known genera of Gilliesieae have their diversity center in the
Mediterranean zone of central Chile, where many of their habitats are threatened by urban expansion, industrial and
agroforestry activities, as well as other anthropogenic impacts. Very little is known about the biology of these particular
geophytes, the majority of which currently have either vulnerable or endangered status, mainly due to their dispersed and
small populations generally associated to remnants of native vegetation. As mycorrhizal associations are essential for soil
resource acquisition and stress mitigation in most plants, our objective was to assess the hitherto unknown mycotrophic
status of ten species of Gilliesieae from central Chile by qualitative and quantitative assessment of intraradical fungal
structures. All sampled genera (Gethyum, Gilliesia, Miersia, Solaria,
Speea) showed regular presence of arbuscular mycorrhiza, while other mycorrhizal or putatively mutualistic
associations, like dark septate endophytes, were practically absent. Mycorrhizal colonization of fi ne roots reached a mean
of ca. 45 % across all examined taxa, with highly variable values ranging from 9 % to 82 % in Miersia tenuiseta and
Gilliesia curicana, respectively. The high level of mycorrhization indicates that arbuscular mycorrhiza should be
considered for conservation strategies of threatened species or biotechnological use in plant propagation. The main future
task is the identification of the associated fungal taxa.
endangered
species, Glomeromycota, latitudinal transect, Mediterranean climate, Monocotyledoneae
