An Investigation of Phyllosphere Mycoflora of Phyllanthus amarus

Most of the medicinal plants die because of disease attack. There are many reasons to cause diseases. Very few information is available about the incidence, prevalence, epidemiology and management of medicinal plants diseases. There is little information or research work on diseases of medicinal plants. Phyllanthus amarus is one of the significant medicinal herbs. A main herb in the Indian Ayurvedic Medicine System. Stomach, genitourinary organ, liver, kidneys, and spleen, as well as gonorrhea, menorrhagia, and other genital diseases, use the whole plant. P. amarus. In this study, there were a total of six fungi found; they are, Aspergillus niger, A. nidulans, Alternaria sp., Fusarium sp., Passalora sp.(Syn. Cercospora sp.), and one Unidentified. Most of the mycoflora were found on leaf surfaces. From the analysis, it is found that very negligible research has been done on phyllosphere fungal diseases. Therefore, care must be taken in this case as phyllosphere fungi also caused significant loss to the herb by damaging stem, branchlets, fruits, flowers. A total of six isolated and reported fungi have infected an insignificant degree of Phyllanthus amarus.

Shifts in community composition and co-occurrence patterns of phyllosphere fungi inhabiting Mussaenda shikokiana along an elevation gradient

The altitudinal effects on the distributions of phyllosphere fungal assemblages in conspecific plants remain poorly elucidated. To address this, phyllosphere fungal communities associated with Mussaenda shikokiana were investigated at four sites across a 350 m elevation gradient in a subtropical forest by employing Illumina metabarcoding of the fungal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region. Our results demonstrated that phyllosphere fungal assemblages with a single host possessed high taxonomic diversity and multiple trophic guilds. OTU richness was significantly influenced by elevation. The elevation gradient also entailed distinct shifts in the community composition of phyllosphere fungi, which was significantly related to geographical distance and mean annual temperature (MAT). Additionally, comparison of phyllosphere fungal networks showed reduced connectivity with increasing elevation. Our data provide insights on the distribution and interactions of the phyllosphere fungal community associated with a single host along a short elevation gradient.

Studies on phyllosphere Fungi. IV. Effect of magnesium chloride on phyllosphere population of virus infected (PVX) and healthy plants of Lycopersicum esculentum Mili. cv. Best of all

Phyllosphere and phylloplane mycoflora of healthy and potato virus X (PVX) infected plants of <i>Lycopesicum esculentum</i> in relation to the treatment of different concentrations of magnesium chloride has been investigated. 250 ppm MgO₂ level resulted to the maximum fungal population on the leaf surface of healthy and diseased plants. 125 ppm concentration of MgO₂. on the other hand favoured the maximum fungal colonization on phylloplane region in both healthy and diseased plants. In both, healthy and diseased plants, 125 ppm concentration of MgCl₂ proved equally good for growth of plants and the chlorophyll content of the leaf. The variation in the leaf mycoflora in the present study seems to be governed by a number of factors operating simultaneously.

Studies on phyllosphere fungi. VII. Foliar application of urea on certain ornamentals

Leaf-surface mycoflora of three ornamentals - <i>Impatiens balsamina</i> L., <i>Rheoes discolor</i> L. and <i>Lochnera rosea</i> (L.) Reichb., in relation to foliar application of aqueous solution of 5,0% urea has been studied. In the former two plants the application of urea enhanced the my00flora whereas in the latter an adverse effect was observed for phyllosphere region. In phyUoplane region of <i>L. rosea</i>, however, a promotive effect was exhibited in sprayed plants. The urea in this concentration also proved slightly toxic to <i>L. rosea</i>.

The occurrence and biotic activity of Phomopsis diachenii Sacc.

<i>Phomopsis diachenii</i> was isolated from caraway cultivars Konczewicki, firstly in 2006 and next in 2007. Single cultures were obtained from the roots and the stem base of eight six-week-old seedlings and from the stems of two plants with symptoms of necrosis, in the second year of planting. This fungus was isolated from the plant parts superficially disinfected on malt agar medium with an addition 0.01% of streptomycin. The identification of the species was made on PDA medium. The biotic interactions between <i>P. diachenii</i> and <i>S. carvi</i> and other species of phyllosphere fungi of caraway were studied. Interactions among the fungi, i.e. between <i>P. diachenii</i> and one of the fungi representing the studied community, were examined using the biotic series method. The biotic effects of the fungi in dual cultures were evaluated after 10 and 20 days of common growth and were expressed as the individual biotic effect (IBE). It was shown that <i>P. diachenii</i> is a weak competitor because its growth was limited by numerous species of phyllosphere fungi. The obtained results indicated the dominance of biotic activity of <i>P. diachenii</i> over that of <i>S. carvi</i>. It is possible that <i>P. diachenii</i> has a greater ability to survive in the phyllosphere fungal community than <i>S. carvi</i>, causing septoriosis of caraway.