Endophytic Fungi: A Cryptic Fountainhead for Biodiversity, Functional Metabolites, Host Stress Tolerance, and Myco-mediated Nanoparticles (Nps) Synthesis

Plants depend on beneficial interactions between roots and fungal endophytes for growth, disease suppression, and stress tolerance. In this study, we characterized the endophytic fungal communities associated with the roots and corresponding seeds of soybeans grown in the Huang-Huai region of China. For the roots, we identified 105 and 50 genera by culture-independent and culture-dependent (CD) methods, respectively, and isolated 136 fungal strains (20 genera) from the CD samples. Compared with the 52 soybean endophytic fungal genera reported in other countries, 28 of the genera we found were reported, and 90 were newly discovered. Even though Fusarium was the most abundant genus of fungal endophyte in every sample, soybean root samples from three cities exhibited diverse endophytic fungal communities, and the results between samples of roots and seeds were also significantly different. Together, we identified the major endophytic fungal genera in soybean roots and seeds, and revealed that the diversity of soybean endophytic fungal communities was influenced by geographical effects and tissues. The results will facilitate a better understanding of soybean–endophytic fungi interaction systems and will assist in the screening and utilization of beneficial microorganisms to promote healthy of plants such as soybean.

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Community diversity and stress tolerance of culturable endophytic fungi from black seed (Nigella sativa L.)

South African Journal of Botany ◽

10.1016/j.sajb.2020.10.026 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 137 ◽

pp. 272-277

Author(s):

B. Gopane ◽

C.D. Kaptchouang Tchatchouang ◽

T. Regnier ◽

C.N. Ateba ◽

M.C. Manganyi

Keyword(s):

Stress Tolerance ◽

Endophytic Fungi ◽

Nigella Sativa ◽

Community Diversity ◽

Black Seed

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Production, Optimization, Characterization and Drought Stress Resistance by β-Glucan-Rich Heteropolysaccharide From an Endophytic Fungi Colletotrichum alatae LCS1 Isolated From Clubmoss (Lycopodium clavatum)

Frontiers in Fungal Biology ◽

10.3389/ffunb.2021.796010 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Hiran Kanti Santra ◽

Debdulal Banerjee

Keyword(s):

Drought Stress ◽

Stress Tolerance ◽

Endophytic Fungi ◽

Sugar Content ◽

Soluble Sugar ◽

Production Optimization ◽

Severe Drought ◽

Therapeutic Effects ◽

Lycopodium Clavatum ◽

First Time

Endophytic entities are ubiquitous in nature with all-square bioactivity ranging from therapeutic effects toward animals to growth promoting attributes and stress tolerance activities in case of green plants. In the present study, the club moss Lycopodium clavatum for the first time has been subjected for the isolation of endophytic fungi. An exopolysaccharide (EPS) extracted from Colletotrichum alatae LCS1, an endophytic fungi isolated from L. clavatum Linn., was characterized as a β-glucan heteropolymer (composed of mannose, rhamnose, arabinose, glucose, galactose, and fucose) which plays a pivotal role in obliterating the drought stress in rice seedlings (Oryza sativa) when applied at an amount of 20, 50, and 100 ppm. The fresh weight contents of rice tissue (39%), total chlorophyll (33%), proline (41%), soluble sugar content (26%) along with antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, peroxidase, and super-oxide dismutase increased (in comparison to control of non-EPS treated seedlings) while malondialdehyde content had reduced markedly after 30 days of regular treatment. The drought resistance of rice seedling was observed at peak when applied at 50 ppm dosage. Vital parameters for EPS production like fermentation duration (5 days), medium pH (6), nutrient (carbon (glucose-7 g%/l), nitrogen (yeast extract-0.4 g%/l), and mineral (NaCl-0.10 g%/l) sources, oxygen requirements (O2 vector or liquid alkane-n-hexane, n-heptane, n-hexadecane), and headspace volume (250 ml Erlenmeyer flask- 50 ml medium, 200 ml-headspace volume) were optimized to obtain an enhanced EPS yield of 17.38 g/L−59% higher than the preoptimized one. The present study, for the first time, reported the β-glucan rich heteropolysaccharide from Colletotrichum origin which is unique in structure and potent in its function of drought stress tolerance and could enhance the sustainable yield of rice cultivation in areas facing severe drought stress.

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