Diversity of endophytic fungi in few lianas of West Medinipur, south-west, India

Four woody lianas were selected for isolation and study of endophytic fungiand its diversity from three forest areas of West Medinipur district. Aerial tissues (leaf, petiole and bark) were assessed for isolation of endophytes. A total of 173 plant segmentsout of 225 were inhabited by fungi and 229 endophytic fungi were isolated. The isolated fungi belong to 31 genera, with few sterile mycelia. Among all isolated endophytes-Fusarium sp., Penicillium sp., Pestalotiopsis sp., Aspergillus sp., Nigrospora sp. were most common. In Bauhinia sp., maximal endophytic fungi (36.68%) were observed. Five fungal species were identified by molecular method using ITS-rDNA sequence by NFCCI, Pune. Isolated endophytic fungi were Lasiodiplodia sp. Acrocylindrium sp., Arthrinium sp. and Aspergillus sp. Simpson's diversity was maximum in Bauhinia sp. (0.8926). Diverse group of endophytic fungi were in Bauhinia sp. and Celastrus sp.