Diversité des mycoendophytes foliaires de Limoniastrum feei (Girard) Batt. de Oued Aghlal (Béchar, Algérie) / Diversity of endophytic fungi associated with Limoniastrum feei leaves (Girard) Batt. of Oued Aghlal (Bechar, Algeria)

Abstract

In this work, our interest was in isolating, identifying and listing foliar mycoendophytes present at Limoniastrum feei (Girard) Batt. Sampling involved 23 healthy subjects. Ten leaves were taken from each subject to be seeded on PDA medium. After two months of incubation, we measured a colonization frequency of 73.22 ± 4%, with a total of 842 endophytic fungal isolates, divided into 56 species and 20 genera. Species of the genus Penicillium, and those of the genus Aspergillus appeared as dominant, successively. These two genera known for their antimicrobial activities account for 45.79% of the mycoendophytes surveyed. Correlations sometimes positive and for other negative are described between the majority of fungal genera. Thus, the calculation of the diversity index revealed a remarkable richness of the endophytic mycoflora. The leaves of L. feei can be considered as a real hotspot of fungal biodiversity.