Essomo Sylvie Etanke et al. /Afr.J.Bio.Sc. 3(2) (2021) 95-105 Page 95 of 106 Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2021 Received : 05 October 2020 Accepted : 13 January 2021 Published : 05 April 2021 doi: 10.33472/AFJBS.3.2.2021.95-106 Article Info © 2021 African Journal of Biological Sciences.This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https:/ / creativecommons.org/ licenses/ by/ 4.0/ ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. A bstract The orchidaceae (orchid family) is the second largest family of flowering plants after the Asteraceae. Orchids are important in herbal medicine, the food industry, perfumery industry and as ornamentals. They rely on mycorrhizal fungi to provide the carbon sources for seed germination and seedling establishment. The Mount Cameroon Region has a rich diversity of orchids which is under threats from land use patterns. This study was aimed at (i) identifying fungi associated with orchid mycorrhiza; and (ii) identifying non-mycorrhizal endophytic fungi. Nine species of orchids were selected for this study, three each from the different life forms. Selection criteria were based on vulnerability, scarcity and abundance. Mycorrhizal and non-myccorrhizal endophytic fungi were isolated from dissected single pelotons and from non-peloton root tissues respectively. Identification of fungi was based on morphological and sequence- based molecular methods. A total of 18 fungi species belonging to 12 genera were identified with Penicillium being the most abundant. The inferred phylogenetic tree grouped all endophytes into 9 major clusters belonging to 2 phyla. Clustering was independent of whether endophytes were mycorrhizal or non-mycorrhizal. The results of this study could contribute to orchid conservation and for the discovery of bioactive compounds. Keywords: Orchid, Mycorrhiza, Non-mycorrhizal, Endophytic, Fungi, Molecular 1. Introduction The Orchidaceae (the orchids’ family) is the second largest family of flowering plants after Asteraceae. The importance of orchids in herbal medicine, the food industry, perfumery industry and as ornamentals worldwide cannot be overstated. In Japan, legend has it that a sterile Emperor’s wife inhaled the inebriating perfume of Cymbidium ensifolium and went on to have 13 children (Berliocchi, 2004). The enthusiasm for orchids has * Corresponding author: Afanga Yannick Afanga, Department of Plant Science, University of Buea, Cameroon. E-mail: yannickafanga@gmail.com 2663-2187/ © 2021 African Journal of Biological Sciences. All rights reserved. African Journal of Biological Sciences ISSN: 2663-2187 Journal homepage: http:/ / www.afjbs.com Molecular identification of endophytic fungi associated with orchids from Mount Cameroon region Essomo Sylvie Etanke 1 , Arrey Doris Besem 2 , Afanga Yannick Afanga 3* , Meshi Joice 4 , Eneke Tambe Bechem 5 and Fonge Beatrice Ambo 6 1 Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Cameroon. E-mail: essomo@yahoo.com 2 Department of Plant Science, University of Buea, Cameroon. E-mail: besemdoris1369@gmail.com 3 Department of Plant Science, University of Buea, Cameroon. E-mail: yannickafanga@gmail.com 4 Department of Plant Science, University of Buea, Cameroon. E-mail: asobofoku@gmail.com 5 Department of Plant Science, University of Buea, Cameroon. E-mail: tamenekeso@yahoo.co.uk 6 Department of Plant Science, University of Buea, Cameroon. E-mail: ambofonge@yahoo.com Research Paper Open Access Essomo Sylvie Etanke et al. /Afr.J.Bio.Sc. 3(2) (2021) 95-106 https://doi.org/10.33472/AFJBS.3.2.2021.95-106