0236–6495/$ 20.00 © 2016 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest Acta Botanica Hungarica 58(3–4), pp. 241–256, 2016 DOI: 10.1556/ABot.58.2016.3-4.2 COLOMBIAN VANILLA AND ITS MICROBIOTA. III. DIVERSITY AND STRUCTURE OF THE ENDOPHYTIC COMMUNITY M. A. Gamboa-Gaitán 1 and J. T. Otero-Ospina 2 1 Laboratorio de Biología Tropical, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Carrera 30 # 45-03, Bogotá, D. C., Colombia; E-mail: magamboaga@unal.edu.co 2 Grupo de Investigación en Orquídeas, Ecología y Sistemática Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Carrera 32 # 12-00, Palmira, Colombia; E-mail: jtoteroo@unal.edu.co (Received 11 April, 2016; Accepted 15 June, 2016) Endophytic fungal communities are well-recognised entities within plants worldwide. They hold species with potential in medicinal affairs, biological control of pests, industry, and more. Nevertheless, ecological data about structure and dynamics of endophytic com- munities are scarce. In this study we sampled root, stem and leaf tissues of Colombian vanilla species in order of both, identifying endosymbionts and characterising the com- munity they belong to. An interesting array of endophytic species was found, including taxa that function as pathogens, saprotrophs, and dermatophytes in other plants/scenarios. Ecological parameters show a moderate diversity with a lognormal arrangement of spe- cies quite similar to communities of macroorganisms. Many species here reported belong to taxa broadly reported as sources of biologically active compounds, so they are good candidates for bioprospecting research. Key words: Colletotrichum, endophytes, fungal ecology, Fusarium, tropical fungi, Vanilla, xylariaceous fungi INTRODUCTION Endosymbiotic communities of plants gained a lot of attention in recent years due to several factors. First, they are believed to be a very rich source of hidden biodiversity (Arnold et al. 2000), and it is expected that biological in- ventories will increase notably with new microbial species if more plants are studied in this regard. Second, endophytic communities seem to be assem- bled in the same way communities of macroorganisms are structured, so they are a useful model for ecological community research (and an easier one to