Most vascular plants harbour mutualistic fungi in their roots, forming associations called mycorrhizas (Brundrett & Tedersoo, 2018; Van Der Heijden et al., 2015). Mycorrhizas are chimeric organs, composed of both plant tissues and fungal hyphae, where nutrient exchanges can occur directions (Smith Read, 2008). While provide photosynthetic acquired carbon to partners, the latter improve hydro-mi...

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on Journal blog. Orchid mycorrhiza is exclusively formed in highly diversified plant family Orchidaceae and represents a unique study system to address fundamental questions about evolutionary trajectory of trophic mode mycorrhizal associations (Jacquemyn & Merckx, 2019; Rasmussen et al., 2015; van der Heijden 2015). All orchid species are m...