Biodiversity

Biography

Biography: Satish Sreedharamurthy

Abstract

Endophytic fungi are one of plant-associated microbiome which grows in healthy plant tissues for all or the most part of their life cycle without causing disease symptoms in the host plants. To expand knowledge about endophytic fungal diversity by culture-dependent technique the present study was undertaken. Two hundred-thirty eight (238) (19.83%) endophytic isolates were isolated from 1,200 plant tissue samples of stem and leaf collected from Mirabilis jalapa Linn. (Nyctaginaceae) and Ficus pumila Linn., (Moraceae) in three different seasons, namely summer, monsoon and winter. 238 endophytic isolates were categorized into 23 taxa, comprising 3 ascomycetes genera Chaetomium sp., Sporormia sp. and Xylaria sp. (10.92%), 5 coelomycetes genera Colletotrichum sp., Pestalotiopsis sp., Phoma sp., Phomopsis sp. and Phyllosticta sp. (18.06%), 11 hyphomycetes genera Acremomium sp., Alternaria sp., Aspergillus sp., Cladosporium sp., Curvularia sp., Drechslera sp., Fusarium sp., Myrothecium sp., Nigrospora sp., Penicillium sp. and Trichoderma sp. (55.46%), 2 zygomycetes genera Mucor sp. and Rhizopus sp. (2.94%), 2 morphospecies of Mycelia sterilia (8.4%). Colonization rates (%) of endophytic fungi for both the tissues were found to be relatively homogeneous (14.33% and 14.0%) and (18.66% and 18.33%) for Mirabilis jalapa and Ficus pumila. Endophytic fungal isolates were prevalent on leaf tissue of both plants (52.94%) than on stem tissue (47.0%). Aspergillus flavus and Xylaria sp., are dominant endophytic fungal genera in leaf while in stem species of Fusarium and Pestalotiopsis sp., were dominant in Mirabilis jalapa and Ficus pumila respectively. Endophytes segregated with varying degree of colonization during three sampling season among different tissues of the two hosts. There is no significant difference in Simpson, Shannon diversity and Species Richness indices values for Mirabilis jalapa due their relatively homogenous values. Overall diversity indices values for foliar endophytes of Ficus pumila were relatively high when compared to leaf and stem tissues of Mirabilis jalapa. But species richness was higher in stems of Mirabilis jalapa when compared with leaves and stems of Ficus pumila due the isolation 19 different endophytic fungal taxa.