Genetic diversity of endophytic fungi from Coffea arabica cv. IAPAR-59 in organic crops

Abstract

Endophytes are microorganisms that live inside plant tissues throughout its life cycle and during certain phases of development. The endophyte–host relationships can provide benefits to the host, protecting it against attack by insects and diseases. Several studies have demonstrated the diversity of endophytes from Coffea arabica, but few studies in varieties of organic crops. Thus, the objective in this study was to corroborate these reports with knowledge of the endophytic fungi communities in an organic variety of C. arabica L. cultivar IAPAR-59. We identified the endophytic fungi by molecular methods using the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region of rDNA and phylogenetic analyses. In the antagonist activity tests, the endophytes were tested against phytopathogens with the evaluation of the kind of interactions between them. Analyses demonstrated a diversity of genera, including: Colletotrichum, Trichoderma, Schizophyllum, Mycosphaerella, Cladosporium, and Cercospora, as well as the first record of the genus Ophiognomonia in C. arabica. The antagonist activity showed reduced growth of the phytopathogenic fungi Glomerella sp., Colletotrichum sp. and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The results obtained in this work, with the identification for the first time, of a highly diverse isolated endophytic of the species Ophiognomonia sp. in the coffee plants, is the second report of the detection of these fungi in Brazil. Also, the detection of different isolates with the ability to antagonise pathogens, emphasises the importance of further research, involving the isolation, identification and exploration of endophytes of other genetic varieties of coffee, obtained by breeding programs of this important crop in Brazil.