Differences and biocontrol potential of haustorial endophytic fungi from Taxillus Chinensis on different host plants

Abstract

Background To explore the community composition and diversity of the endophytic fungi in Taxillus chinensis, samples of the parasites growing on seven different hosts, Morus alba, Prunus salicina, Phellodendron chinense, Bauhinia purpurea, Dalbergia odorifera, Diospyros kaki and Dimocarpus longan, were isolated. The strains were identified by their morphological characteristics and their internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. Results 150 different endophytic fungi were isolated from the haustorial roots of the seven hosts with a total isolation rate of 61.24%. These endophytic fungi were found to belong to 1 phylum, 2 classes, 7 orders, 9 families, 11 genera and 8 species. Among of them, Pestalotiopsis, Neopestalotiopsis and Diaporthe were the dominant genera, accounting for 26.67, 17.33 and 31.33% of the total number of strains, respectively. Diversity and similarity analyses showed that the endophytic fungi isolated from D. longan (H’=1.60) had the highest diversity index. The highest richness indexes were found in M. alba and D. odorifera (both 2.23). The evenness index of D. longan was the highest (0.82). The similarity coefficient of D. odorifera was the most similar to D. longan and M. alba (33.33%), while the similarity coefficient of P. chinense was the lowest (7.69%) with M. alba and D. odorifera. Nine strains showed antimicrobial activities. Among them, Pestalotiopsis sp., N. parvum and H. investiens showed significant antifungal activity against three fungal phytopathogens of medicinal plants. At the same time, the crude extracts from the metabolites of the three endophytic fungi had strong inhibitory effects on the three pathogens. Pestalotiopsis sp., N. parvum and H. investiens had the strongest inhibitory effects of S. cucurbitacearum, with inhibitory rates of 100%, 100% and 81.51%, respectively. In addition, N. parvum had a strong inhibitory effect on D. glomerata and C. cassicola, with inhibitory rates of 82.35% and 72.80%, respectively. Conclusions These results indicate that the species composition and diversity of endophytic fungi in the branches of T. chinensis were varied in the different hosts and showed good antimicrobial potential in the control of plant pathogens.

Deciphering the mechanisms, hormonal signaling, and potential applications of endophytic microbes to mediate stress tolerance in medicinal plants

“…SMR1 enhanced downy mildew tolerance in Papaver somniferum (L.) via protein modification, differential expression of transcripts related to signal transduction, transcription factors, and SA-dependent defense pathway ( Ray et al., 2021 ). Many researchers showed the ability of both bacterial and fungal endophytes to control diseases and phytopathogens by synthesized volatile and non-volatile compounds, soluble antifungal metabolites and by specific mechanisms including activation of defense enzymes and PR proteins associated with ISR, JA/ET mediated disease resistance, antagonism, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-proliferative properties, production of IAA, siderophores.and β-1,3-glucanase, proteolytic activity, chitinase and cellulose synthesis in diverse medicinal plants including Chloranthus elatior , Taxillus chinensis, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Curcuma longa, Dioscorea bulbifera, Viola odorata, Cremastra appendiculata , Angelica sinensis , Cornus florida, Nicotiana tabacum, Zingiber zerumbet and Piper betle ( Harsha et al., 2023 ; Jiao et al., 2023 ; Manasa et al., 2023 ; Mei et al., 2023 ; Rotich and Mmbaga, 2023 ; Salwan et al., 2023 ; Santra and Banerjee, 2023 ; Sharma et al., 2023 ; Song et al., 2023 ; Thankam and Manuel, 2023 ; Wang et al., 2023 ; Yehia, 2023 ; Zou et al., 2023 ).…”

“…To illustrate, several studies have reported the beneficial effects of microbial endophytes on a wide range of medicinal plants, including Withania somnifera, Artemisia annua, Papaver somniferum, Cymbidium aloifolium , Salvia miltiorrhiza , Catharanthus roseus, Bacopa monnieri , Nicotiana tobaccum, Andrographis paniculata, Chlorophytum borivilianum, Panax ginseng, Panax notoginseng, Curcuma longa, Curcuma wenyujin , etc. ( Meng and He, 2011 ; Karthikeyan et al., 2012 ; Wang et al., 2012 ; Ma et al., 2013 ; Barnawal et al., 2016 ; Kumar et al., 2016 ; Hong et al., 2018 ; Jayakumar et al., 2019 ; Sahu et al., 2019 ; Shah et al., 2019 ; Jiao et al., 2020 ; Ray et al., 2021 ; Zheng et al., 2021 ; Mei et al., 2023 ; Salwan et al., 2023 ; Sharma et al., 2023 ; Song et al., 2023 ; Wang et al., 2023 ; Zou et al., 2023 ). Thus, unquestionably, these endophytes have demonstrated tremendous potential as a green and eco-friendly alternative for boosting food production in sustainable agricultural systems.…”