Ecological diversity of Phylloplane Mycoflora of medicinal plants in Naharlagun, Papumpare District, Arunachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Leaves constitute the major part of exposed plant surface. They are open to infestation or sporotropic colonization by air dispersed or splash dispersed mycoflora. The leaves provide unique environment to their surface occupants. The topography of the leaf surface, the microclimate around the leaves and the typical leaf exudate influence the growth and development of varieties of leaf surface micro-organisms and in turn determine the vitality of the plant concerned. In this context survey on the occurrence of Phylloplane fungi on leaf surfaces of eight important medicinal plants viz; Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don, Houttuynia cordata Thunb., Solanum lycopersicum Lam., Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng., Eryngium foetidum L., Clerodendrum glandulosum Lindl., Ocimum sanctum, Capsicum chinense Jacq. From the present study it is being concluded that most abundant phylloplane fungi are Alternaria sp, Penicillium sp, and Aspergillus sp with high value of relative abundance. The number of identified fungal strains were analyzed to obtain relative abundance, species richness, evenness, Shannon Wiener diversity index, Simpson dominance index, and community similarity index. The Shannon Wiener diversity index, Simpson dominance index species richness index, species evenness index was estimated high in Solanum lycopersicum followed by Houttuynia cordata, Ocimum sp, Eryngium foetidum etc. In all the selected medicinal plants same fungal community structure was obtained based on the calculation of similarity index.