Endophytic fungi isolation and identification from Memecylon species of Western Ghats, India

Endophytic fungi have been documented as sources for novel secondary metabolites with useful medicinal properties. Interest in fungal endophytes is mainly due to their chemical diversity. These signify a virtually untapped source of chemical reservoir that finds applications in agriculture and therapeutics. Sampling and characterization of fungal endophyte diversity is an emerging challenge, which leads to the discovery of new species producing new compounds and a better understanding of their role in ecosystems. In the present study fungal endophytes were isolated from surface sterilized leaf and stem segments of five Memecylon species such as M. umbellatum, M. edule , M. talbotianum, M. malabaricum and M. wightii . A total of 156 isolates of endophytic fungi were obtained from 2000 tissue segments of five Memecylon species being investigated. Of the 156, endophytic isolates recovered, 86 sporulated and belonged to 10 genera, Alternaria (12.2%), Pleosporales (6.4%), Stagonosporopsis (3.8%), Cladosporium (8.2%), Fusarium (7.3%), Aspergillus (12.2%), Pestalopsis (7.5%), Collectotrichum (21.6%), Phoma (4.4%) and fungal mycelia (19.1), which are identified based on morphological characteristics and the dominant endophytes such as C. gleosporiades , Pleosporales sp., Stagonosporopsis cucurbitacearum and other fungal endophytes are further confirmed based on PCR amplification and sequencing of 5.8srRNA gene region and their accessions are obtained KT375578, KT375576.1, KT375577.1 and KT375579.1. The study provides the first report on the isolation and identification of endophytic fungi from Memecylon species.