Characterization of the mycorrhizal fungi of vanilla species native to the colombian pacific region: important biological resources for enhancing the cultivation of vanilla.

The natural vianulla flavoring is extracted from the beans (fruit pods) of cultivated Vanilla orchid species. Global demand for the natural flavoring is increasing. and vanilla represents an economically important crop for agro-forestry system in humid tropical ecosystems. In COlombia, there is great potencial for product-market diversification of vanilla through cultivation in sustainable forest-based agro-system in the Pacific region, which at the same time offers an important alternative for income generation for resource-poor communities in the region. This project will isolate mycorrhizal fungi from the eight Vanilla species from the Pacific coast, and will characterize the fungi using both traditional morphological, and molecular genetic techniques. Diffetent fungal isolates will be tested for the ability to promote Vanilla speed germination, and also growth and development in seedlings, in order to identify fungal strains with applicability in the cultivation of Vanilla in Colombia and globally.