Diverse fungi associated with partial irregular heartwood of Dalbergia odorifera

Sisheng Sun,Xu Zeng,Dawei Zhang,Shunxing Guo

doi:10.1038/srep08464

Sisheng Sun, Xu Zeng + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08464

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Abstract

Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen is a medium-sized evergreen tree that produces purple-brown heartwood called JiangXiang in traditional Chinese medicine, the formation process of which takes several decades. In this study, a standard culture method was used to isolate fungi from the wounded and normal stems of D. odorifera aiming to investigate the difference between the two types of wood. To characterize the spatial colonisation of endophytic fungi, an anatomical study was undertaken using the two different types of wood of D. odorifera. A total of 320 wood segments were placed on PDA plates and 87 fungal isolates were obtained. Only two fungi were isolated from the healthy white wood tissue, whereas 85 fungi were found in the purple-brown wounded-wood tissues. The two isolates from 160 white healthy wood tissues were assigned to Bionectriaceae sp., and the rest in wounded wood tissues were analyzed to 12 fungal species, indicating both a high fungal diversity and colonization rate in the purple-brown wounded wood. There was a difference in fungal species composition between coloured and white wood samples collected from the same tree. Eutypa sp. was the most commonly isolated species in the purple-brown wounded wood.

Highlights

Diverse fungi associated with partial irregular heartwood of Dalbergia odorifera Sisheng Sun[1,2], Xu Zeng[1], Dawei Zhang1 & Shunxing Guo[1]
Purple-brown wood segments were collected from nine wounded D. odorifera trees and white healthy wood stems were collected from three healthy plants growing naturally in an artificially cultivated condition
Small pieces of purple-brown wood were tested positive by ignition, which is similar to heartwood, but negative for white healthy wood

Summary

Introduction

Diverse fungi associated with partial irregular heartwood of Dalbergia odorifera Sisheng Sun[1,2], Xu Zeng[1], Dawei Zhang1 & Shunxing Guo[1]. Chen is a medium-sized evergreen tree that produces purple-brown heartwood called JiangXiang in traditional Chinese medicine, the formation process of which takes several decades. A standard culture method was used to isolate fungi from the wounded and normal stems of D. odorifera aiming to investigate the difference between the two types of wood. Was the most commonly isolated species in the purple-brown wounded wood. Thereafter, the colour of the wounded wood will change from white to purple-brown and the irregular heartwood will be formed with attractive flavor and high medicinal values. The mechanism governing this process remains unclear at present. It is likely that the formation of D. odorifera heartwood induced by wounding might be similar to the formation of agarwood induced by fungi invasion

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Results

Conclusion