Isolation and Characterization of Fungal Endophytes Isolated from Medicinal Plant Ephedra pachyclada as Plant Growth-Promoting.

Ahmed Mohamed Aly Khalil,Sultan M Alsharif,Adil A Gobouri,Emad El-Din Ewais,Ahmed M Eid,Amr Fouda,Saad El-Din Hassan,Ehab Azab,Amr Elkelish

doi:10.3390/biom11020140

Ahmed Mohamed Aly Khalil, Sultan M Alsharif + Show 7 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/biom11020140

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Abstract

Endophytic fungi are widely present in internal plant tissues and provide different benefits to their host. Medicinal plants have unexplored diversity of functional fungal association; therefore, this study aimed to isolate endophytic fungi associated with leaves of medicinal plants Ephedra pachyclada and evaluate their plant growth-promoting properties. Fifteen isolated fungal endophytes belonging to Ascomycota, with three different genera, Penicillium, Alternaria, and Aspergillus, were obtained from healthy leaves of E. pachyclada. These fungal endophytes have varied antimicrobial activity against human pathogenic microbes and produce ammonia and indole acetic acid (IAA), in addition to their enzymatic activity. The results showed that Penicillium commune EP-5 had a maximum IAA productivity of 192.1 ± 4.04 µg mL−1 in the presence of 5 µg mL−1 tryptophan. The fungal isolates of Penicillium crustosum EP-2, Penicillium chrysogenum EP-3, and Aspergillus flavus EP-14 exhibited variable efficiency for solubilizing phosphate salts. Five representative fungal endophytes of Penicillium crustosum EP-2, Penicillium commune EP-5, Penicillium caseifulvum EP-11, Alternaria tenuissima EP-13, and Aspergillus flavus EP-14 and their consortium were selected and applied as bioinoculant to maize plants. The results showed that Penicillium commune EP-5 increased root lengths from 15.8 ± 0.8 to 22.1 ± 0.6. Moreover, the vegetative growth features of inoculated maize plants improved more than the uninoculated ones.

Highlights

The improvement of food sources and crops are receiving more attention in recent years due to high population growth; subsequently, demand for natural products for food, medicine, energy, and other biotechnological aspects is increasing [1]
15 endophytic fungi were isolated from mature leaves of E. pachyclada; based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analysis, fungal isolates were identified as: Penicillium crustosum (EP-1 and EP-2), Penicillium chrysogenum (EP-3 and EP-4), Penicillium commune (EP-5 and EP-6), Penicillium corylophilum (EP-7), Alternaria infectoria (EP-8 and EP-9), Penicillium caseifulvum (EP-10 and EP-11), Alternaria alternata (EP-12), Alternaria tenuissima (EP-13), Aspergillus flavus (EP-14), and Aspergillus niger (EP-15)
All endophytic fungal isolates exhibited catalase enzymatic activity; the catalase enzyme is considered the first line of defense in microbes, which protected them against harmful free radicals which arise from biotic and abiotic stresses, and promote plant growth through an indirect strategy [42]

Summary

Introduction

The improvement of food sources and crops are receiving more attention in recent years due to high population growth; subsequently, demand for natural products for food, medicine, energy, and other biotechnological aspects is increasing [1]. Biomolecules 2021, 11, 140 to replace the long-term application of chemical fertilizers to enhance crop productivity and reduce environmental pollutions that arise from chemical compounds [4,5]. Fungal endophytes are those colonized intra- or intercellular spaces of plant tissues that do not show any illness symptoms [6]. Fungal endophytes have high potential to protect plants against different pathogens and, reduce crop loss through the secretion of different bioactive compounds such as antibiotics [13]

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