Dark Septate Endophytic Fungi Associated with Sugarcane Plants Cultivated in São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Dark septate endophytes (DSEs) constitute a polyphyletic group within the Ascomycota, with global distribution and a wide range of host plant species. The present study evaluated the diversity of DSE in sugarcane roots of the varieties RB867515, RB966928, and RB92579, and four varieties of not commercialized energy cane. A total of 16 DSE strains were isolated, mostly from the varieties RB966928 and RB867515, with six and five isolates, respectively. Just one of the four energy cane varieties had fungi with DSE appearance. The analyses of the DNA sequences from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the large subunit (LSU), in association with the micromorphology of the isolates, allowed the differentiation of the 16 isolates in at least five species, within the families Periconiaceae, Pleosporaceae, Lentitheciaceae, Vibrisseaceae, and Apiosporaceae and the orders Pleosporales, Helotiales, and Xylariales. The order Pleosporales represented 80% of the isolates, and the species Periconia macrospinosa, with six isolates, accounted for the highest isolation frequency. The results confirm the natural occurrence of the DSE symbiosis in sugarcane varieties and the generalist character of these fungi as some of the detected species have already been reported associated with other host plants, ecosystems, and regions of the world.

Antibacterial activity of endophytic fungi isolated from the stem bark of jambu mawar (Syzygium jambos)

“…Endophytic fungi SJ5: white to gray with yellow edges and white and yellow around, cottony, raised, radiated, concentric circle, conidia, globose, septate, frequently intercalary in hyphae sole, identified as Poaceascoma (Phookamsak et al 2015;Luo et al 2016;Fors et al 2020). Endophytic fungus SJ6: pink with a lighter periphery, cottony, zonate, conidiophores hyaline, erect, long, branched verticillately, rarely simple, conidia lunate shaped, long elliptical, 4-5 celled identified as Fusarium verticillioides (Walsh et al 2018;Watanabe 2010).…”

First report of Paraphaeosphaeria angularis as endophyte in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) from India

“…Thus, studying microbial diversity, especially endophytes that are known to contribute to plant fitness to overcome biotic and abiotic stresses become imperative. Studies on endophytic fungi of sugarcane include that of Srivastava et al (2017) from India, de Souza et al (2016), Romão-Dumaresq et al (2016) and Fors et al (2020) from Brazil, Khunnamwong et al (2014) from Thailand, and Lufeng et al (2019) from China. Since there are limited studies on endophytes of sugarcane (Rashmi et al 2019), present study is embarked on screening sugarcane leaf for the presence of fungal endophytes.…”

Fungal Diversity

“…The culture-dependent studies in this issue were associated with agricultural and tropical systems. Ortega Fors et al [4] described strains of dark septate endophytes in several varieties of sugar cane. They established that it was common to observe dark septate endophytes in the roots of sugar cane and identified at least five fungal species.…”