Characterization of heterogeneous groups of fungal endophytes isolated from mangroves in Negombo, Sri Lanka
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Asian Journal of Mycology
Volume
6
Issue
2
First Page
61
Last Page
71
Publisher
Mushroom Research Foundation
School
Graduate Research School
RAS ID
64564
Abstract
Mangroves are well known for their adaptability to extreme conditions; thus, mangrove habitats help to manage coastlines and carbon cycling against anthropogenic stresses. Fungal endophyte is a type of microorganism that typically has a mutualistic relationship with its plant hosts. These endophytes can be found in several parts of the plant and play a positive role in the production of enzymes, nutrients and secondary metabolites, along with other processes such as toxin assembly and phyto-stimulation. The exploitation of these bioactive substances from endophytic fungi is beneficial in several fields such as pharmaceuticals and agriculture. The objective of the current investigation was to isolate and identify fungal endophytes present in ten mangrove species from Negombo, Sri Lanka: Acanthus ilicifolius, Acrostichum aureum, Avicennia marina, Bruguiera cylindrica, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Excoecaria agallocha, Lumnitzera racemosa, Rhizophora mucronata, Sonneratia alba and Sonneratia caseolaris. A standard potato dextrose agar culturing was used to obtain fungal colonies from leaves, roots and twigs, whose morphological characteristics were used for their identification. Out of the 42 fungal isolates extracted from the samples, nine endophytic genera such as Aspergillus, Candida, Chaetomium, Fusarium, Mucor, Penicillium, Phyllosticta, Rhizopus and Trichoderma were found. The highest number of isolates was obtained from Sonneratia alba. Each mangrove species held varying types of fungal colonies, with the genus Penicillium being isolated the highest number of times and the genus Aspergillus being highly diverse. The findings of this study have helped to confirm the presence of endophytic fungi in all the sample mangroves tested.
DOI
10.5943/ajom/6/2/5
Access Rights
free_to_read
Comments
Rajan, K., Baskaran, R., Costa, C. D., Uthpala, K. K., Ranathunga, R. H., Raeesuddeen, A., . . . Dissanayaka, D. M. S. U. (2023). Characterization of heterogeneous groups of fungal endophytes isolated from mangroves in Negombo, Sri Lanka. Asian Journal of Mycology, 6(2), 61-71. https://asianjournalofmycology.org/volume-6-2023/issue-2.html