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Keywords:
Endophytes, DSE, Diversity, Phylogeny, Solubilization index, Crop species
The land plants are highly dependent on beneficial interactions with fungal endophytes for growth, disease resistance, and stress tolerance. We investigated the distribution and tri-calcium phosphate (TCP) solubilizing activity of root-endophytic fungi (REF) isolated from Capsicum chinense, Oryza sativa cv. Chakhao amubi, Vigna unguiculata, and Zea mays cultivated in Manipur, North East India. A total of 276 culturable fungal endophytes belonging to eight different orders, 11 families, 17 genera, and 29 species were recovered and identified by morphological and phylogenetic analyses. The isolation rate (IR%) and colonization rate (CR%) of endophytic fungal communities were highest in the roots of O. sativa (42% and 68.7%) and lowest in C. chinense (12% and 41%). plants, respectively. Likewise, the richness of endophytic fungi was also high in O. sativa (21 species) roots. Fusarium oxysporum was the dominant fungus with a relative abundance of 22.27%, while A. niger recorded the maximum isolation frequency. The diversity indices of identified REF from different crop plant roots were also positively studied. In addition, we microscopically evaluated the percentage of dark septate endophyte (DSE) fungal colonization in crop roots. Further, eight REF were able to solubilize the TCP with solubilization index (SI%) ranging from 1.5 to 2.7%. The findings of this study will contribute to a better understanding of REF interactions and their potential ability to solubilize inorganic phosphate, as well as to the use of these fungi to promote the growth and yield of various crop plants in sustainable agriculture.
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The authors (KS and RRP) thankfully acknowledge the financial support received from ICAR-AMAAS Coordination Unit (ICAR/NBAIM/AMAAS/2017-20/GF/1a/531), Government of India, to carry out this research work.