Seed Borne Endophytic Fungi Associated with Some Indigenous Rice Varieties of North East India and Their Growth Promotion and Antifungal Potential

Abstract

Background: Seed borne endophytic fungi play an important role in seed germination and plant health. There are ubiquitous and have been found associated in every plant species investigated so far. They colonize plant seeds without causing any disease and are often vertically transmitted. Despite their occurrence, seed borne endophytic fungi are poorly investigated and their role for application in agriculture is still to be elucidated. Methods: In the present study endophytic fungi associated with seeds of some indigenous rice varieties of North East, India was investigated. The isolates were determined for IAA activity in-vitro and antifungal activity against rice pathogen, Magnaporthe grisea. Crude metabolites obtained from potent isolates were characterized by GCMS analysis to reveal the presence of bioactive compounds. Result: Our result indicated that commonly isolated fungal genera were Aspergillus, Fusarium, Gliocladium, Mucor, Penicillium, Bipolaris, Basidiobolus and Mycelia sterilia. Amongst them, colonization frequency (CF %) of Fusarium (8.8%) was found to be highest and was isolated from seeds of almost all the varieties. It was observed that four isolates of Fusarium showed good IAA production in the medium amended with tryptophan. The isolates also displayed antifungal activity against Magnaporthe grisea. GCMS analysis of the metabolites indicated presence of several bioactive compounds. The study suggests that seed borne endophytes can be explored as bio-inoculants for crop improvement in future research program.

Endophytic Fungi in Rice Plants and Their Prospective Uses

“…Endophytic fungi were found in rice roots, stems, leaves, and grains through a culture-dependent method, mainly concentrated in more than 60 genera. Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Fusarium are the most common fungi in rice plants [10,[31][32][33]38,40,43,44,48,[50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57], which can be visualized in Figure 2. Herein, we conducted statistical analysis on the percent of identified isolates through a culture-dependent method from the literature and found that they are mainly distributed in five phyla using the Origin 2021 software, namely Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mucoromycota, Oomycota, and Zoopagomycota, with Ascomycota being the main group (Figure 3).…”

The seed microbiomes of staple food crops

“…Seed microbiomes differ from one plant to another due to the quality of the seeds, viability, cultivars and energy reserves needed for microbial metabolism (Roy et al, 2021 ). The host, microorganisms and environment are the major factors influencing microbial compositions in the plant‐seed endosphere (Figure 1 ).…”

Diversity of endophytic fungi of rice plants in Padang City, Indonesia, entomopathogenic to brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens)

“…Ariyanto et al (2013) found ten endophytic fungi in rice using Integrated Pest Management (IPM) system, namely Aspergillus, Penicillium, Nigrospora, Trichoderma, Alternaria, Curvularia, Fusarium, Mucor, Mastigosporium, and Monosporium, whereas in rice plants with conventional cropping systems found seven endophytic fungi Aspergillus, Nigrospora, Curvularia, Trichoderma, Penicillium, Verticillium, and Acremonium. The diversity of endophytic fungi in rice plants is also influenced by different varieties (Roy et al 2020). The morphological characteristics of each entomopathogenic rice endophytic fungus are described as follows:…”