Foliar endophytic fungi as potential protectors from pathogens in myrmecophytic Acacia plants.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Gonzalez-Teuber M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4594485 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Almost all living plants can be simultaneously colonised by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the roots and endophytes in the shoots, while also being attacked by insect herbivores. However, to date, no study has ever examined the multitrophic interactions between these two different fungal groups and insects on any species of forb. Here, we examined the effects of two commercial species mixtures of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and two foliar endophytes (Colletotrichum acutatum and Cladosporium oxysporum) on the growth of an invasive weed, Impatiens glandulifera, and the aphids that attack it. AMF reduced plant biomass, which was most evident when C. oxysporum was inoculated. Mycorrhizal fungi had few effects on aphids, and these depended on the identity of the endophytes present. Meanwhile, endophytes tended to increase aphid numbers, but this depended on the identity of the AMF inoculum. Throughout, there were differences in the responses of the plant to the two mycorrhizal mixtures, demonstrating clear AMF specificity in this plant. These specific effects were also strongly affected by the endophytes, with a greater number of interactions found between the AMF and endophytes than between the endophytes themselves. In particular, AMF reduced infection levels by the endophytes, while some endophyte inoculations reduced mycorrhizal colonisation. We suggest that both AMF and endophytes could play an important part in future biological control programmes of weeds, but further multitrophic experiments are required to unravel the complexity of interactions between spatially separated parts of the plant microbiome.
| S-EPMC9849307 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Grapevine Trunk Diseases (GTDs) are a major challenge to the grape industry worldwide. GTDs are responsible for considerable loss of quality, production, and vineyard longevity. Seventy-five percent of Chilean vineyards are estimated to be affected by GTDs. GTDs are complex diseases caused by several fungi species, including members of the Botryosphaeriaceae family and Phaeomoniella chlamydospora, considered some of the most important causal agents for these diseases in Chile. In this study, we isolated 169 endophytic and 209 rhizospheric fungi from grapevines grown under organic and conventional farming in Chile. Multiple isolates of Chaetomium sp., Cladosporium sp., Clonostachys rosea, Epicoccum nigrum, Purpureocillium lilacinum, and Trichoderma sp. were evaluated for their potential of biocontrol activity against Diplodia seriata, Neofusicoccum parvum, and Pa. chlamydospora. Tests of antagonism were carried out using two dual-culture-plate methods with multiple media types, including agar containing grapevine wood extract to simulate in planta nutrient conditions. Significant pathogen growth inhibition was observed by all isolates tested. Clonostachys rosea showed 98.2% inhibition of all pathogens in the presence of grapevine wood extract. We observed 100% pathogen growth inhibition when autoclaved lignified grapevine shoots were pre-inoculated with either C. rosea strains or Trichoderma sp. Overall, these results show that C. rosea strains isolated from grapevines are promising biocontrol agents against GTDs.
| S-EPMC7817659 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Fungal endophytes colonize living internal plant tissues without causing any visible symptoms of disease. Endophytic fungi associated with healthy leaves may play an important role in the protection of hosts against herbivores and pathogens. In this study, the diversity of foliar endophytic fungi (FEF) of the southern temperate tree Embothrium coccineum (Proteaceae), as well as their role in plant protection in nature was determined. Fungal endophytes were isolated from 40 asymptomatic leaves by the culture method for molecular identification of the 18S rRNA gene. A relationship between FEF frequency and plant protection was evaluated in juveniles of E. coccineum Fungal endophyte frequency was estimated using real-time PCR analyses to determine endophyte DNA content per plant. A total of 178 fungal isolates were identified, with sequence data revealing 34 different operational taxonomic units (OTUs). A few common taxa dominated the fungal endophyte community, whereas most taxa qualified as rare. A significant positive correlation between plant protection (evaluated in terms of percentage of leaf damage) and FEF frequency was found. Furthermore, in vitro confrontation assays indicated that FEF were able to inhibit the growth of fungal pathogens. The data showed a relatively high diversity of fungal endophytes associated with leaves of E. coccineum, and suggest a positive relationship between fungal endophyte frequencies in leaves and host protection in nature.
| S-EPMC4972461 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Many endophytic fungi have the potential to function as saprotrophs when living host tissues senesce and enter the litter pool. The consumption of plant litter by fungi obviously requires moisture but, in the arid, western USA, the native range of Quercus gambelii Nutt., most of the precipitation occurs during the coldest months of the year. Therefore, we hypothesized that the endophytic fungi of Q. gambelii have the potential to function as psychrotolerant saprotrophs, which we defined in this study as an organism capable of significant growth on leaf litter at 5°C. We further hypothesized that a tradeoff exists between growth of endophytic fungi at 5°C and at 17°C such that fungal isolates are either cold- or warm-temperature specialists. Consistent with our first hypothesis, we found that 36 of our 40 isolates consumed leaf litter at 5°C, but there was a surprisingly high degree of variability among isolates in this ability, even among isolates of a given species. Contrary to our second hypothesis, there was no tradeoff between saprotrophic growth at 5°C and saprotrophic growth at 17°C. Indeed, the isolates that grew poorly as saprotrophs at 5°C were generally those that grew poorly as saprotrophs at 17°C. By virtue of being endophytic, endophytic fungi have priority in litter over decomposer fungi that colonize plant tissues only after they enter the litter pool. Moreover, by virtue of being psychrotolerant, some endophytic fungi may function as saprotrophs during the cold months of the year when moisture is temporarily available. Therefore, we suggest that some endophytic fungi of Q. gambelii could play significant ecosystem roles in litter decomposition and nutrient cycling.
| S-EPMC9555652 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This study was conducted to characterize and explore the endophytic fungi of selected plants from the Western Himalayas for their bioactive potential. A total of 72 strains of endophytic fungi were isolated and characterized morphologically as well as on the basis of ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 ribosomal gene sequence acquisition and analyses. The fungi represented 27 genera of which two belonged to Basidiomycota, each representing a single isolate, while the rest of the isolates comprised of Ascomycetous fungi. Among the isolated strains, ten isolates could not be assigned to a genus as they displayed a maximum sequence similarity of 95% or less with taxonomically characterized organisms. Among the host plants, the conifers, Cedrus deodara, Pinus roxburgii and Abies pindrow harbored the most diverse fungi, belonging to 13 different genera, which represented almost half of the total genera isolated. Several extracts prepared from the fermented broth of these fungi demonstrated strong bioactivity against E. coli and S. aureus with the lowest IC(50) of 18 μg/ml obtained with the extract of Trichophaea abundans inhabiting Pinus sp. In comparison, extracts from only three endophytes were significantly inhibitory to Candida albicans, an important fungal pathogen. Further, 24 endophytes inhibited three or more phytopathogens by at least 50% in co-culture, among a panel of seven test organisms. Extracts from 17 fungi possessed immuno-modulatory activities with five of them showing significant immune suppression as demonstrated by the in vitro lymphocyte proliferation assay. This study is an important step towards tapping the endophytic fungal diversity from the Western Himalayas and assessing their bioactive potential. Further studies on the selected endophytes may lead to the isolation of novel natural products for use in medicine, industry and agriculture.
| S-EPMC3568471 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundTo explore the community composition and diversity of the endophytic fungi in Taxillus chinensis, samples of the parasites growing on seven different hosts, Morus alba, Prunus salicina, Phellodendron chinense, Bauhinia purpurea, Dalbergia odorifera, Diospyros kaki and Dimocarpus longan, were isolated. The strains were identified by their morphological characteristics and their internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences.Results150 different endophytic fungi were isolated from the haustorial roots of the seven hosts with a total isolation rate of 61.24%. These endophytic fungi were found to belong to 1 phylum, 2 classes, 7 orders, 9 families, 11 genera and 8 species. Among of them, Pestalotiopsis, Neopestalotiopsis and Diaporthe were the dominant genera, accounting for 26.67, 17.33 and 31.33% of the total number of strains, respectively. Diversity and similarity analyses showed that the endophytic fungi isolated from D. longan (H'=1.60) had the highest diversity index. The highest richness indexes were found in M. alba and D. odorifera (both 2.23). The evenness index of D. longan was the highest (0.82). The similarity coefficient of D. odorifera was the most similar to D. longan and M. alba (33.33%), while the similarity coefficient of P. chinense was the lowest (7.69%) with M. alba and D. odorifera. Nine strains showed antimicrobial activities. Among them, Pestalotiopsis sp., N. parvum and H. investiens showed significant antifungal activity against three fungal phytopathogens of medicinal plants. At the same time, the crude extracts from the metabolites of the three endophytic fungi had strong inhibitory effects on the three pathogens. Pestalotiopsis sp., N. parvum and H. investiens had the strongest inhibitory effects of S. cucurbitacearum, with inhibitory rates of 100%, 100% and 81.51%, respectively. In addition, N. parvum had a strong inhibitory effect on D. glomerata and C. cassicola, with inhibitory rates of 82.35% and 72.80%, respectively.ConclusionsThese results indicate that the species composition and diversity of endophytic fungi in the branches of T. chinensis were varied in the different hosts and showed good antimicrobial potential in the control of plant pathogens.
| S-EPMC10182615 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Endophytes are critical for plant growth and health. Tea is an economically important crop in China. However, little is known about the distribution pattern and potential functions of endophytic communities in tea trees. In this study, two genotypes (BXZ and MF) cultivated under the same conditions were selected, and endophytic bacteria and fungi were analyzed through 16S rRNA and ITS high-throughput sequencing technologies, respectively. For endophytic bacteria, root tissues harbored the most diverse endophytes, followed by stems and old leaves, and new leaves possessed the lowest diversity. In contrast, old leave tissues harbored more diverse endophytic fungi than did root and stem tissues. Most of the dominant endophytes showed obvious cultivar and tissue preferences. Tissue type played a more important role in shaping community structure than did cultivar. Nevertheless, some endophytic bacterial groups, which mainly affiliated to Chryseobacterium, Sphingomonas, Rhizobium, Morganella, Methylobacterium and Comamonadaceae, could parasitize different tissues, and the average relative abundance of endophytic bacteria was as high as 72.57%. Some endophytic fungal populations, such as Colletotrichum, Uwebraunia, Cladosporium, and Devriesia, could also parasitize tea, and the relative abundance accounted for approximately 25.70-97.26%. The cooperative relationship between endophytic bacteria and fungi in the new leaves was stronger than that in the old leaves, which can better participate in the metabolism of tea material.
| S-EPMC9538792 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The purpose of the present study was to discover antimicrobial endophytic fungi from Astragalus chinensis. Three fungal endophytes with antibacterial activity were isolated and determined as Chaetomium sp. HQ-1, Fusarium sp. HQ-7 and Fusarium sp. HQ-9 based on the neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree. Chaetomium sp. HQ-1 showed the best antibiotic potential and was thus selected for large-scale fermentation. Bioactivity-directed separation of ME fermentation of strain HQ-1 led to the discovery of three compounds, which were identified as differanisole A (1), 2,6-dichloro-4-propylphenol (2) and 4,5-dimethylresorcinol (3), from the HR-ESI-MS and NMR data analysis. All three compounds exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin-resistant S. aureus, with MIC values ranging from 16 to 128 μg/mL. Compounds 1 and 3 also displayed promising antifungal activity against Selerotium rolfsii with IC50 values of less than 16 and 32 μg/mL, respectively, which were comparable to that of actidione (8 μg/mL). The findings of the present study suggest that the endophytic fungi from A. chinensis have the potential to be used as bactericides and fungicides.
| S-EPMC6803603 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Endophytes are novel sources of natural bioactive compounds. This study seeks endophytes that produce the anticancer enzyme l-asparaginase, to harness their potential for mass production. Four plants with anticancer properties; Cymbopogon citratus, Murraya koenigii, Oldenlandia diffusa and Pereskia bleo, were selected as host plants. l-Asparaginase-producing endophytes were detected by the formation of pink zones on agar, a result of hydrolyzes of asparagine into aspartic acid and ammonia that converts the phenol red dye indicator from yellow (acidic condition) to pink (alkaline condition). The anticancer enzyme asparaginase was further quantified via Nesslerization. Results revealed that a total of 89 morphotypes were isolated; mostly from P. bleo (40), followed by O. diffusa (25), C. citratus (14) and M. koenigii (10). Only 25 of these morphotypes produced l-asparaginase, mostly from P. bleo and their asparaginase activities were between 0.0069 and 0.025 μM mL(-1) min(-1). l-Asparaginase producing isolates were identified as probable species of the genus Colletotrichum, Fusarium, Phoma and Penicillium. Studies here revealed that endophytes are good alternative sources for l-asparaginase production and they can be sourced from anticancer plants, particularly P. bleo.
| S-EPMC4642164 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Microbes living symbiotically in plant tissues mutually cooperate with each other by providing nutrients for proliferation of the partner organism and have a beneficial effect on plant growth. However, few studies thus far have examined the interactive effect of endophytic bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in hostile conditions and their potential to improve plant stress tolerance. In this study, we investigated how the synergistic interactions of endophytic bacteria and AMF affect plant growth, nodulation, nutrient acquisition and stress tolerance of Acacia gerrardii under salt stress. Plant growth varied between the treatments with both single inoculants and was higher in plants inoculated with the endophytic B. subtilis strain than with AMF. Co-inoculated A. gerrardii had a significantly greater shoot and root dry weight, nodule number, and leghemoglobin content than those inoculated with AMF or B. subtilis alone under salt stress. The endophytic B. subtilis could alleviate the adverse effect of salt on AMF colonization. The differences in nitrate and nitrite reductase and nitrogenase activities between uninoculated plants and those inoculated with AMF and B. subtilis together under stress were significant. Both inoculation treatments, either B. subtilis alone or combined with AMF, enhanced the N, P, K, Mg, and Ca contents and phosphatase activities in salt-stressed A. gerrardii tissues and reduced Na and Cl concentration, thereby protecting salt-stressed plants from ionic and osmotic stress-induced changes. In conclusion, our results indicate that endophytic bacteria and AMF contribute to a tripartite mutualistic symbiosis in A. gerrardii and are coordinately involved in the plant adaptation to salt stress tolerance.
| S-EPMC4949997 | biostudies-literature