Fungal endophyte communities in two tropical forests of southern India: diversity and host affiliation

摘要: Fifteen tree species from a tropical dry thorn forest and fifteen deciduous in the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, southern India, were surveyed for their foliar endophyte communities during wet seasons. Surface sterilized leaf segments of uniform dimension plated on nutrient agar culturable endophytes growing identified. Endophyte diversity was greater than season. Although isolation frequency increased both forests season, assemblages represented not by any unique fungal but commonly occurring ones. Furthermore, although individual leaves densely colonized endophytes, only few whole leaves; and, dominated endophytic common Thus, even under conditions that favour dispersal infection fungi, marginally, an indication certain are hyperdiverse with reference to endophytes. This should be considered when using as surrogate estimating global diversity.