Endophytic fungi from the Amazonian plant Paullinia cupana and from Olea europaea isolated using cassava as an alternative starch media source

Abstract

Endophytic fungi live inside plants, apparently do not cause any harm to their hosts and may play important roles in defense and growth promotion. Fungal growth is a routine practice at microbiological laboratories, and the Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) is the most frequently used medium because it is a rich source of starch. However, the production of potatoes in some regions of the world can be costly. Aiming the development of a new medium source to tropical countries, in the present study, we used leaves from the guarana (a tropical plant from the Amazon region) and the olive (which grows in subtropical and temperate regions) to isolate endophytic fungi using PDA and Manihot Dextrose Agar (MDA). Cassava (Manihot esculenta) was evaluated as a substitute starch source. For guarana, the endophytic incidence (EI) was 90% and 98% on PDA and MDA media, respectively, and 65% and 70% for olive, respectively. The fungal isolates were sequenced using the ITS- rDNA region. The fungal identification demonstrated that the isolates varied according to the host plant and media source. In the guarana plant, 13 fungal genera were found using MDA and six were found using PDA. In the olive plant, six genera were obtained using PDA and 4 were obtained using MDA. The multivariate analysis results demonstrated the highest fungal diversity from guarana when using MDA medium. Interestingly, some genera were isolated from one specific host or in one specific media, suggesting the importance of these two factors in fungal isolation specificity. Thus, this study indicated that cassava is a feasible starch source that could serve as a potential alternative medium to potato medium.

Diversity of cultivable fungal endophytes in Paullinia cupana (Mart.) Ducke and bioactivity of their secondary metabolites

“…cupana ( Table 2 ). The genera Diaporthe , Pestalotiopsis and Phomopsis were previously identified in endophytic communities of phyllospheres [ 29 ]. Thus, we hypothesize that endophytic fungi that colonize P .…”

“…Some studies have reported the endophytic fungal diversity of P . cupana leaves [ 18 , 29 , 30 ] and endophytic bacterial diversity of P . cupana leaves, seeds and roots [ 31 , 32 ].…”

Antimicrobial activities of endophytic fungi obtained from the arid zone invasive plant Opuntia dillenii and the isolation of equisetin, from endophytic Fusarium sp.

“…Some endophytic fungi have specific growth requirements and some species are not adapted to grow and sporulate in artificial culture media. Sometimes the fast growing fungal species outcompete the slower growing species [ 20 ]. Therefore use of several media with different nutrient aspects may probably be an advantage in isolating a large number of endophytic fungi including the cryptic species from the plant tissue.…”

Epiphytic and Endophytic Bacteria on Olive Tree Phyllosphere: Exploring Tissue and Cultivar Effect

“…Climate change scenarios foresee temperatures increases in many Mediterranean regions [21], revealing the importance of such studies. Most research on olive tree phyllosphere microbiota has mainly focused on fungal communities, either exclusively on endophytic [22][23][24][25] or both endophytic and epiphytic populations [26]. As far as we know, there are only one study focusing on archaeal and bacterial diversity in olive tree phyllosphere [27].…”