Endophytic Fungi Associated with Mango Show In Vitro Antagonism against Bacterial and Fungal Pathogens

Abstract

Endophytic fungi live in inter-cellular spaces of healthy plant tissues without causing any apparent symptoms of diseases for the host plant. Some fungal endophytes help their plant hosts to survive under biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, we collected healthy mango leaves at the Honghe mango plantations (Yunnan Province) in the winter. A total of 34 different fungal endophytic strains were isolated, and their phylogenetic placements were estimated based on the ITS gene. Members of genus Chaetomium were the dominant fungal endophytes (26%). Common bacterial plant pathogens (Erwinia amylovora and Pseudomonas syringae) and fungal plant pathogens (Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium digitatum) were selected to test the antagonism of the fungal endophytes isolated from mango leaves through co-cultivation in vitro assay. Three strains of Chaetomium sp. viz. KUNCC22-0749, UNCC22-10750, and KUNCC22-10752 showed great inhibition against two bacterial pathogens viz. Erwinia amylovora and Pseudomonas syringae, and Alternaria sp. KUNCC22-10760, Chaetomium sp. KUNCC22-10749, Daldinia sp. KUNCC22-10744, and Rosellinia sp. KUNCC22-10751 also showed great to moderate antagonistic effects against two fungal pathogens viz. Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium digitatum.