Multiple Fungi May Connect the Roots of an Orchid () and Ash () in Western Newfoundland.

Showy lady's slipper ( Walter, Orchidaceae) and black ash ( Marshall, Oleaceae) often co-occur in close proximity in fens in western Newfoundland, Canada. Metabarcoding of DNA extracted from root samples of both species following surface sterilization, and others without surface sterilization was used to determine if there were shared fungal endophytes in the roots of both species that could form a common mycorrhizal network between them. A wide variety of fungi were recovered from primers amplifying the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS2). Sixty-six fungal sequences were shared by surface-sterilized roots of both orchid and ash, among them arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi ( and ), ectomycorrhizal fungi ( and ), the broad-host root endophyte , along with root pathogens (, and ) and fungi of unknown function. There appear to be multiple fungi that could form a common mycorrhizal network between and , which might explain their frequent co-occurrence. Transfer of nutrients or carbon between the orchid and ash via one or more of the shared fungal endophytes remains to be demonstrated.