Fungal Endophytes in Lolium and Festuca Species

Abstract Background Endophyte bestows beneficial aspects to its inhabiting host, along with a contribution to diverse structural attributes with biological potential. In this regard, antimicrobial profiling of fungal endophytes from medicinal plant Adiantum philippense revealed bioactive Nigrospora sphaerica from the leaf segment. Chemical and biological profiling through TLC–bioautography and hyphenated spectroscopic techniques confirmed the presence of phomalactone as an antimicrobial metabolite. Results The chemical investigation of the broth extract by bioassay-guided fractionation confirmed phomalactone as a bioactive antimicrobial secondary metabolite. The antimicrobial activity of phomalactone was found to be highest against Escherichia coli by disc diffusion assay. The MIC was found to be significant against both Escherichia coli and Xanthomonas campestris in the case of bacteria and dermatophyte Candida albicans at 150 μg/ml, respectively. Conclusions Overall, the results highlighted the antimicrobial potential of phomalactone from the endophyte Nigrospora sphaerica exhibiting a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against human and phytopathogenic bacteria and fungi. This work is the first report regarding the antibacterial activity of phomalactone.

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Isolation and Characterization of Fungal Endophytes Isolated from Medicinal Plant Ephedra pachyclada as Plant Growth-Promoting

Biomolecules ◽

10.3390/biom11020140 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 140 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ahmed Mohamed Aly Khalil ◽

Saad El-Din Hassan ◽

Sultan M. Alsharif ◽

Ahmed M. Eid ◽

Emad El-Din Ewais ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medicinal Plants ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Aspergillus Flavus ◽

Endophytic Fungi ◽

Fungal Endophytes ◽

Penicillium Crustosum ◽

Plant Growth Promoting ◽

Penicillium Commune ◽

Maize Plants ◽

Growth Promoting

Endophytic fungi are widely present in internal plant tissues and provide different benefits to their host. Medicinal plants have unexplored diversity of functional fungal association; therefore, this study aimed to isolate endophytic fungi associated with leaves of medicinal plants Ephedra pachyclada and evaluate their plant growth-promoting properties. Fifteen isolated fungal endophytes belonging to Ascomycota, with three different genera, Penicillium, Alternaria, and Aspergillus, were obtained from healthy leaves of E. pachyclada. These fungal endophytes have varied antimicrobial activity against human pathogenic microbes and produce ammonia and indole acetic acid (IAA), in addition to their enzymatic activity. The results showed that Penicillium commune EP-5 had a maximum IAA productivity of 192.1 ± 4.04 µg mL−1 in the presence of 5 µg mL−1 tryptophan. The fungal isolates of Penicillium crustosum EP-2, Penicillium chrysogenum EP-3, and Aspergillus flavus EP-14 exhibited variable efficiency for solubilizing phosphate salts. Five representative fungal endophytes of Penicillium crustosum EP-2, Penicillium commune EP-5, Penicillium caseifulvum EP-11, Alternaria tenuissima EP-13, and Aspergillus flavus EP-14 and their consortium were selected and applied as bioinoculant to maize plants. The results showed that Penicillium commune EP-5 increased root lengths from 15.8 ± 0.8 to 22.1 ± 0.6. Moreover, the vegetative growth features of inoculated maize plants improved more than the uninoculated ones.

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The Influence of the Grapevine Bacterial and Fungal Endophytes on Biomass Accumulation and Stilbene Production by the In Vitro Cultivated Cells of Vitis amurensis Rupr.

Plants ◽

10.3390/plants10071276 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 1276

Author(s):

Olga A. Aleynova ◽

Andrey R. Suprun ◽

Nikolay N. Nityagovsky ◽

Alexandra S. Dubrovina ◽

Konstantin V. Kiselev

Keyword(s):

Cell Culture ◽

Cell Suspension ◽

Endophytic Fungi ◽

Endophytic Bacteria ◽

Fungal Endophytes ◽

Biomass Accumulation ◽

Vitis Amurensis ◽

Grape Cell ◽

Stilbene Biosynthesis

Plant endophytes are known to alter the profile of secondary metabolites in plant hosts. In this study, we identified the main bacterial and fungal representatives of the wild grape Vitis amurensis Rupr. microbiome and investigated a cocultivation effect of the 14 endophytes and the V. amurensis cell suspension on biomass accumulation and stilbene biosynthesis. The cocultivation of the V. amurensis cell culture with the bacteria Agrobacterium sp., Bacillus sp., and Curtobacterium sp. for 2 weeks did not significantly affect the accumulation of cell culture fresh biomass. However, it was significantly inhibited by the bacteria Erwinia sp., Pantoea sp., Pseudomonas sp., and Xanthomonas sp. and fungi Alternaria sp., Biscogniauxia sp., Cladosporium sp., Didymella sp. 2, and Fusarium sp. Cocultivation of the grapevine cell suspension with the fungi Didymella sp. 1 and Trichoderma sp. resulted in cell death. The addition of endophytic bacteria increased the total stilbene content by 2.2–5.3 times, while the addition of endophytic fungi was more effective in inducing stilbene accumulation by 2.6–16.3 times. The highest content of stilbenes in the grapevine cells cocultured with endophytic fungi was 13.63 and 13.76 mg/g of the cell dry weight (DW) after cultivation with Biscogniauxia sp. and Didymella sp. 2, respectively. The highest content of stilbenes in the grapevine cells cocultured with endophytic bacteria was 4.49 mg/g DW after cultivation with Xanthomonas sp. The increase in stilbene production was due to a significant activation of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and stilbene synthase (STS) gene expression. We also analyzed the sensitivity of the selected endophytes to eight antibiotics, fluconazole, and trans-resveratrol. The endophytic bacteria were sensitive to gentamicin and kanamycin, while all selected fungal strains were resistant to fluconazole with the exception of Cladosporium sp. All endophytes were tolerant of trans-resveratrol. This study showed that grape endophytes stimulate the production of stilbenes in grape cell suspension, which could further contribute to the generation of a new stimulator of stilbene biosynthesis in grapevine or grape cell cultures.

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Fungal endophytes from leaves of Mandevilla catimbauensis (Apocynaceae): diversity and potential for L-asparaginase production

Brazilian Journal of Microbiology ◽

10.1007/s42770-021-00505-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gianne R. Araújo-Magalhães ◽

Marília H. C. Maciel ◽

Leticia F. da Silva ◽

Gualberto S. Agamez-Montalvo ◽

Iolanda R. da Silva ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fungal Endophytes

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Effect of Ionizing Radiation on the Bacterial and Fungal Endophytes of the Halophytic Plant Kalidium schrenkianum

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9051050 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 1050

Author(s):

Jing Zhu ◽

Xiang Sun ◽

Zhi-Dong Zhang ◽

Qi-Yong Tang ◽

Mei-Ying Gu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Ionizing Radiation ◽

Endophytic Bacteria ◽

Fungal Endophytes ◽

Root Endophytes ◽

Fungal Community Structure ◽

Geochemical Factors ◽

Bacteria And Fungi ◽

High Level ◽

And Control

Endophytic bacteria and fungi colonize plants that grow in various types of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Our study investigates the communities of endophytic bacteria and fungi of halophyte Kalidium schrenkianum growing in stressed habitats with ionizing radiation. The geochemical factors and radiation (at low, medium, high level and control) both affected the structure of endophytic communities. The bacterial class Actinobacteria and the fungal class Dothideomycetes predominated the endophytic communities of K. schrenkianum. Aerial tissues of K. schrenkianum had higher fungal diversity, while roots had higher bacterial diversity. Radiation had no significant effect on the abundance of bacterial classes. Soil pH, total nitrogen, and organic matter showed significant effects on the diversity of root endophytes. Radiation affected bacterial and fungal community structure in roots but not in aerial tissues, and had a strong effect on fungal co-occurrence networks. Overall, the genetic diversity of both endophytic bacteria and fungi was higher in radioactive environments, however negative correlations were found between endophytic bacteria and fungi in the plant. The genetic diversity of both endophytic bacteria and fungi was higher in radioactive environments. Our findings suggest that radiation affects root endophytes, and that the endophytes associated with aerial tissues and roots of K. schrenkianum follow different mechanisms for community assembly and different paradigms in stress response.

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