Prasenjit Debbarma1, 2*, Samrat Tripura1, Suman Paul3, Rahul Saha1, Badal Kumar Datta3, Ajay Krishna Saha1
1Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Department of Botany, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar-799022, Tripura, India
2Department of Botany, Netaji Subhash Mahavidyala, Dhwajanagar-799120, Udaipur, Tripura, India
3Biodiversity and Plant Taxonomy Laboratory, Department of Botany, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar-799022, Tripura, India
*Address for Correspondence:
Prasenjit Debbarma
Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory,
Department of Botany, Tripura University, Suryamaninagar-799022, Tripura, India
Abstract
The endophytic fungal diversity of Chromolaena odorata, an invasive alien weed of Tripura, Northeastern India is scientifically documented in the present study. A total of, 177 endophytic fungal isolates were isolated from 480 tissue segments of C. odorata from eight different geographic locations. The isolates were identified into 14 genera and they belonged to the phylum Ascomycota, grouped into 3 classes, 9 orders, and 11 families. The most dominant orders were Glomerellales (22.60%), Hypocreales (22.03%), and Pleosporales (20.34%). Colletotrichum, Fusarium, Corynespora, and Nigrospora were the dominant genera in the present study. The colonization rate, isolation rate varied significantly among tissue type and sampling location. The colonization frequency (CF) and relative frequency (RF) of endophytic fungal strains showed variation considering tissue types, locations, and seasons. The total number of isolates recovered from leaf, stem, and root explants were 61, 67, and 49, respectively. There were considerable diversity in the number and population distribution of endophytic fungi in different seasons and plant parts of C. odorata. The highest biodiversity of endophytic fungi was observed in summer compared to winter. Among the different plant tissues, the Shannon (H'), Simpson (1-D) & Fisher alpha (α) diversity of the endophytic fungi was highest in the stem, followed by root and leaves. These findings suggest that the host plant tissue and sampling season are major factors of distribution of endophytic fungi.
Keywords: Chromolaena odorata, endophytic fungi, diversity, ascomycota; seasonal variation
