▁nut ri ents ▁from ▁fung i ▁to ▁plant . ▁C ations , ▁especially ▁iron , ▁are ▁often ▁bound ▁tight ly ▁to ▁organ ic ▁and ▁cl ay ▁substr ates ▁keeping ▁them ▁out ▁of ▁reach ▁of ▁plants , ▁fung i ▁and ▁b acter ia , ▁but ▁comp ounds ▁such ▁as ▁sp ider op hor es ▁are ▁often ▁secret ed ▁into ▁the ▁soil ▁by ▁fung i ▁and ▁b acter ia ▁to ▁aid ▁in ▁the ▁ac quisition ▁of ▁these ▁c ations . ▁A ▁sp ider oph ore ▁is ▁a ▁small ▁mole c ule ▁which ▁has ▁extremely ▁high ▁aff inity ▁for ▁Fe 3 + ▁and ▁is ▁commonly ▁found ▁being ▁util ized ▁by ▁many ▁b acter ia ▁and ▁fung al ▁species . ▁These ▁comp ounds ▁are ▁released ▁into ▁the ▁soil ▁surrounding ▁the ▁hy phal ▁web ▁and ▁strip ▁iron ▁from ▁min eral ▁comp ounds ▁in ▁the ▁soil , ▁the ▁sp ider oph ore ▁can ▁then ▁be ▁re abs or bed ▁into ▁the ▁fung al ▁hy pha e ▁where ▁the ▁iron ▁can ▁be ▁dis soci ated ▁from ▁the ▁sp ider oh ore ▁and ▁used . ▁Has el wand ter ▁investig ated ▁the ▁presence ▁of ▁sp ider op hor es ▁in ▁orch id ▁associated ▁my cor rh iz al ▁fung i ▁within ▁the ▁genus ▁Rh izo ct onia ▁which ▁util ize ▁the ▁sp ider oph ore ▁bas id io chrome ▁as ▁the ▁major ▁iron - ch el ating ▁comp ound . ▁Other ▁vital ▁nut ri ents ▁may ▁be ▁transferred ▁between ▁my cor rh iz al ▁fung i ▁and ▁orch id ▁plants ▁via