Diversity of endophytic fungal community associated with Piper hispidum (Piperaceae) leaves

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Tropical and subtropical plants are rich in endophytic community diversity. Endophytes, mainly fungi and bacteria, inhabit the healthy plant tissues without causing any damage to the hosts. These fungi can be useful for biological control of pathogens and plant growth promotion. Some plants of the genus Piper are hosts of endophytic microorganisms; however, there is little information about endophytes on Piper hispidum, a medicinal shrub used as an insecticide, astringent, diuretic, stimulant, liver treatment, and for stopping hemorrhages. We isolated the fungal endophyte community associated with P. hispidum leaves from plants in a Brazilian forest remnant. The endophytic diversity was examined based on sequencing of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region of rDNA. A high colonization frequency was obtained, as expected for tropical angiosperms. Isolated endophytes were divided into 66 morphogroups, demonstrating considerable diversity. We identified 21 isolates, belonging to 11 genera (Alternaria, Bipolaris, Colletotrichum, Glomerella, Guignardia, Lasiodiplodia, Marasmius, Phlebia, Phoma, Phomopsis, and Schizophyllum); one isolate was identified only to the order level (Diaporthales). Bipolaris was the most frequent genus among the identified endophytes. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the molecular identification of some isolates to genus level while for others it was confirmed at the species level.

Phylogenetic analysis of endophytic bacterial isolates from leaves of the medicinal plant Trichilia elegans A. Juss. (Meliaceae)

“…Endophytic microorganisms live inside plants without causing them any damage (Bernardi-Wenzel et al, 2010;Garcia et al, 2012;Orlandelli et al, 2012;Rhoden et al, 2012a;Leme et al, 2013). They can be found in the aerial parts of the plant, primarily in the leaves, and occupy intra-and intercellular spaces (Bernardi-Wenzel et al, 2010;Garcia et al, 2012), characterizing a symbiotic relationship.…”

Effect of karst rocky desertification on soil fungal communities in Southwest China

“…Several aspects of microbial activity have been proposed as soil quality measures due to their sensitivity, and have been used as bioindicators of degradation processes (Ros et al, 2003(Ros et al, , 2009). Fungi are a fundamental component of soil microbial communities (Hagn et al, 2003;Orlandelli et al, 2012), and play important roles in many essential processes, including organic matter decomposition, elemental release by mineralization, and protection against leaching by elemental storage in biomass (Hagn et al, 2003;Malosso et al, 2006;Premalatha et al, 2015). Moreover, their mycelia contribute to soil aggregate stability, thereby preventing erosion (Rao et al, 2012).…”

Molecular characterization of endophytes isolated from Saccharum spp based on esterase and ribosomal DNA (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) analyses

“…Furthermore, because endophytic fungi have been shown to demonstrate high levels of phenotypic plasticity (Saikkonen at al., 1999), the role that they play in an ecosystem can vary substantially depending on both biotic and abiotic factors. The use of molecular markers has been useful in studies of endophytic variability, because these markers are capable of detecting polymorphisms in several species (Waldschimidt et al, 2002;Bernardi-Wenzel et al, 2010;Garcia et al, 2012;Orlandelli et al, 2012;Rhoden et al, 2012). Currently, the best tools available to detect endophyte variation effectively are ITS1-5.…”