Diversity and ecological distribution of endophytic fungi associated with salt marsh plants

Abstract

<i>Suaeda species</i> are annual halophytes growing in soils with high salinity. Healthy <i>Suaeda maritima</i> and <i>S. monoica</i> were collected from the Vellar estuary during March 2010 – February 2011 at seasonal intervals for isolating endophytic fungal communities associated with stems and leaves. Totally 1200 segments were screened for isolating the endophytic fungi. Nine species were dominant and obtained from all season in both plants. The colonization rate was higher in <i>S. maritima.</i> In pre-monsoon season the isolation frequency of fungus was high in leaves of both plants. In leaf, the species diversity index, richness was higher in all the seasons. Cluster analysis and MDS in <i>S. maritima</i>, 78% in leaf, 65% in stem similarity occurred in the pre-monsoon and summer seasons. In <i>S. monoica</i>, 85% similarity occurred in the pre-monsoon and summer seasons in the leaf and 50% similarity was obtained in the stem during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons.