A preliminary investigation of endophytic fungal diversity at Hope, East Coast Demerara, Guyana
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus, Greater Georgetown, Guyana.
Research Article
GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2021, 17(02), 044–048.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gscbps.2021.17.2.0324
Publication history:
Received on 27 September 2021; revised on 01 November 2021; accepted on 03 November 2021
Abstract:
Foliar endophytic fungi spend a part of their life cycle on the leaves of plants. They may demonstrate no apparent symptoms but may also cause disease at a later time in the plant’s life. Studies investigating foliar fungal endophytes of mangroves are limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the foliar fungal endophytes present on the leaves of three mangrove species: namely Red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), Black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) and White mangrove (Laguncularia racemosa). The study site was an area located at Hope, East Coast Demerara, and South America, Guyana. Out of sixty (60) leaf samples that were prepared, fourteen (14) fungal isolates were identified. Most of the fungi isolated in the study were found to be Hyphomycetes (Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, Alternaria, Cladosporium and Curvularia) while the others were Zygomorphic (Mucor and Rhizopus). The ANOVA calculations for the isolates from the three mangrove species were found to not be statistically significant. R mangle was the preferred host out of the three (3) species. The findings of this study confirm that mangroves have rich endophytic diversity and demonstrate rich research and biochemical potential.
Keywords:
Endophytic fungi; Foliar fungi; Leaf Endophytes; Mangroves; Mangrove endophytes; Host preference
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Copyright © 2021 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0
