Diversity and decomposition potential of endophytes in leaves of a Cinnamomum camphora plantation in China

Abstract

This study was carried out to improve our understanding of the diversity and decomposition potential of endophytes in the leaves of Cinnamomum camphora trees grown in a subtropical region of China. We isolated and identified endophytic fungi from senescent leaves of C. camphora and tested their role in decomposition through pure‐culture and pre‐colonization. A total of 2,861 endophytic fungi isolated from 69 leaves of C. camphora were grouped into 39 taxa comprising 36 Ascomycetes and 3 Basidiomycetes based on sporulation and ITS sequence analysis. Of these, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides was the most common species (69% relative abundance and 96% colonization frequency), followed by Cladosporium sp.1, Colletotrichum sp. and Chaetomium sp. All 39 endophytes had the ability to decompose C. camphora leaf litter in pure culture, and a few exhibited >20% litter mass loss in 2 months. In most cases, single endopyhytic species showed lower mass loss than mixed microbial groups from active soil after 60 or 120 days. In pre‐inoculation, endophytic fungi like Chaetomium sp., Cladosporium sp.1, C. gloeosporioides, Colletotrichum sp. and Guignardia sp. exhibited higher abundance and caused greater mass loss, indicating the potential of these groups to enter and significantly accelerate the process of decomposition. This study concludes that, after entering the decomposition process, selected endophytic fungi with high abundance could influence significantly the decomposition process and thus probably affect carbon and nutrient cycling in C. camphora plantations.

Diversity, distribution and biotechnological potential of endophytic fungi

“…Some endophytic species could decompose Cinnamomum camphora leaf litter in pure Fig. 2 Proposed schema of biotransformation of 2-hydroxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one (HBOA) and 2-benzoxazolinone (BOA) by Chaetosphaeria sp., Gliocladium cibotii, Gibberella pulicaris, and Monographella cucumerina (Zikmundová et al 2002) culture (He et al 2012). During biodegradation of the litter, endophytic fungi colonize initially within the plants and facilitate the actio of the saprophytic fungi through antagonistic interaction, thus increasing litter decomposition (Nair and Padmavathy 2014).…”

Priority colonization of Cinnamomum camphora litter by endophytes affects decomposition rate, fungal community and microbial activities under field conditions

“…Also, some endophytes may cause diseases in their hosts. For example, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides has often been encountered as endophyte in many studies (Hata et al, 2002;Hata and Sone, 2008;Osono and Hirose, 2009;He et al, 2012), but it may also cause anthracnose, black canker and leaf spot in host plants under certain conditions (Spiers and Hopcroft, 2007;Miyara et al, 2008;Embaby et al, 2010).…”

“…What is the fate of the endophytes after their hosts died, which has made the ecologists to be lost in thought for very long time, and encourages the ecologists to pay close attention to this field. Many endophytes had been found as pioneer colonizers in litter decomposition (Müller et al, 2001;Kumaresan and Suryanarayanan, 2002;Osono, 2003Osono, , 2006Korkama-Rajala et al, 2008;Fukasawa et al, 2009;He et al, 2012;Peršoh et al, 2013;Unterseher et al, 2013;Vo ríšková and Baldrian, 2013), and they had also often been found in the litter layer (Mitchell et al, 1978;Livsey and Barklund, 1992;Lindahl et al, 2007;Unterseher et al, 2013). Endophytic fungi can take the priority over other saprophytic fungi from the beginning of litter decomposition by colonizing plant tissue when it is still living (Thormann et al, 2003).…”

Parkinsonia dieback: investigations into its cause, ecology and potential for biological control

“…None of these have been recorded as causing disease symptoms in adult parkinsonia in available literature, however many of these species have previously been recorded as endophytes in other plant species (Sakayaroj et al 2010;Xing et al 2011;He et al 2012;Loro et al 2012) supporting the finding of their presence as endophytes in parkinsonia. Only two of the species found (Fusarium equiseti and Alternaria alternata) matched two of the 16 species previously found in parkinsonia seeds in India (Sahu & Agarwal 2002a, 2002b.…”