Diversity of cultivable endophytic fungi of Chinese mesona (Platostoma palustre)

• Main Authors: Chung-Wei Hsieh, 謝仲韋
• Other Authors: Roland Kirschner
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/c3y394

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 生命科學系 === 105 === Platostoma palustre is an important economic crop in Taiwan. Previous studies have shown its anti-inflammatory and diuretic effects. However, there is no fungal record in the world for this plant, including endophytic and non-endophytic fungi. In this study, we isolated endophytic fungi from surface sterilized healthy roots, stems, and leaves. Pure cultures were identified by DNA sequence analysis and morphology. We obtained 154 isolates from 810 fragments of 15 symptomless plants of P. palustre. The most common species belonging to the genera Cercospora, Colletotrichum, and Fusarium were generally considered to be low-specific plant pathogens. We confirmed the latent pathogenicity with an infection experiment with an endophytic strain of Corynespora cassiicola. We hypothesize that these fungi are latent pathogens in the host and may get the initiative to infect the host when the host becomes weakened by senescence or changing environment. Hypoxylon was the fourth most common genus and represented by H. cf. investiens was as the single Hypoxylon species.