Diversity and Plant Growth Promotion of Fungal Endophytes in Five Halophytes from the Buan Salt Marsh

Abstract

The world's population is estimated to rise to 9 billion by 2050 [1]. There is a need to increase food production under less than optimal conditions due to population growth and climate change. In the mid-to late twentieth century, the cultivation efforts' purpose is to improve crop varieties, introduce hybrids, and increase agricultural productions in terms of fertilizer, crop management practices, herbicides, water delivery systems, and pesticides resulted in the "Green Revolution" [2,3]. Worldwide, there is a similar global challenge, leading to a need of breedimproved varieties as well as agricultural production practices [4]. The expansion of agricultural production to marginal lands and the effects of global climate change also need an increased biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and efficient nutrient utilization in crop plants for the future global food requirements to be met.Endophytic fungi are organisms that are found anywhere (intercellularly or intracellularly in plants from nearly all genera of Kingdom Plantae). These fungi live in host plants for at least a portion of their lives without generating any immediate overt disease symptoms. These associations can encourage tissue differentiation and plant growth and can help in managing abiotic and biotic stresses to which the host plants are subjected [5,6]. In addition, endophytic fungi may prevent pathogenic organisms and provide nutrients, benefiting the plant host [7]. These well-distributed fungi form diverse plant associations and thus constitute outstanding sources of new bioactive secondary metabolites [8]. Accordingly, there are several new bioactive compounds with insecticidal, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and anticancer activities that have been separated from endophytic fungi recently [9,10].Plant signaling compounds, also called phytohormones, regulate plant responses to environmental change as well as control plant growth and development [11]. Notably, recent studies have reported that certain endophytes encourage host plant growth through the synthesis of phytohormones, for example, gibberellins (GAs), cytokinins, and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) [12][13][14]. Indeed, endophytic fungi promote plant growth by secreting gibberellins in the rhizosphere of their hosts, which leads to an increase in plant biomass production as well as disease resistance. Apart from this, some endophytic fungi secrete both IAA and GAs into culture media [15]. This research surveys both distribution and diversity of fungal endophytes in a certain coastal region of Korea. We have investigated fungal isolates' capacity to encourage growth of Waito-C rice seedlings and have identified whether secondary metabolites like gibberellins were seen in fungal culture filtrates.The diversity and plant growth-promoting ability of fungal endophytes that are associated with five halophytic plant species (Phragmites australis, Suaeda australis, Limonium tetragonum, Suaeda glauca Bunge, and Suaeda maritima) growing in the Buan salt marsh on the west coast of South Korea have been e...

Composition and Diversity of the Culturable Endophytic Community of Six Stress-Tolerant Dessert Plants Grown in Stressful Soil in a Hot Dry Desert Region

“…The diversity of the EF community was reported to be higher in wildflowers than in greenhouse-cultivated flowers [82]. Higher diversity was also reported in many habitatstressed plants [83,84]. Additionally, much evidence has supported the strong link between the EF community and the promotion of plant growth and/or health [85].…”

A New Species in Pseudophialophora From Wild Rice and Beneficial Potential

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Rhizosphere 16S-ITS Metabarcoding Profiles in Banana Crops Are Affected by Nematodes, Cultivation, and Local Climatic Variations

“…(Lv et al, 2019 ). It was reported as a causal agent of ginger rhizome rot (Moreira et al, 2013 ), as an antagonist of fungi and a mushroom pathogen (He et al, 2010 ; Zhang and Tang, 2015 ), and as an endophytic plant growth promoter (Khalmuratova et al, 2021 ). Rozellomycota include mostly unclassified zoosporic species characterized by thick-walled resting spores and obligate parasitism on protozoa and fungi (Doweld, 2013 ).…”