Composition and tissue specificity of endophytic fungi associated with Nothapodytes nimmoniana (J. Graham) Mabberly from the Western Ghats of India

Western Ghats in India is one of the global biodiversity hot spots of the world. The objective of this study was to isolate, recognize the composition and tissue specificity of endophytic mycobiota in healthy disease free parts of an important anticancer medicinal plant, Nothapodytes nimmoniana (J. Graham) Mabberly from the forest in Amboli. Different plant parts (fresh disease free stem, leaves, leaf petiole, flowers and pedicel) were subjected to ‘3-step surface sterilization’ technique which resulted in the recovery of 192 isolates of fungi from 280 segments comprising 80 stem tissues, 120 leafy tissues, 40 leaf petiole tissues, 20 flower tissues and 20 pedicel issues segments, with infection rates of 56.25, 62.5, 50, 180 and 80 percent, respectively. The most frequent fungi were Cladosporium oxysporum, Corynespora sp., Fusarium monoliforme, one unidentified pycnidial fungus and two non sporulating mycelia (NSM 1 and 2). The composition and abundance of the endophytes varied according to the host tissues tested and was found to be dependent on the tissue type. Some fungi were specific to the various parts/tissues of the plant. They were segregated on the basis of their occurrence viz; leaf (midrib, margin, laminar), stem (outer bark, middle cortical and innermost core region), petiole, flower and pedicel.