This study was conducted to identify in vitro plant growth promoting traits and antagonistic activities of endophytic fungi from Oncosperma sp. Sixty-two endophytic fungi were isolated from leaves, roots, petioles, and spines of Oncosperma sp. Ten strains [Colletotrichum sp. (1), Daldinia spp. (6), and Diaporthe spp. (3)] showed efficient plant growth-promoting traits as well as in vitro antagonistic activities. Daldinia strains MFLUCC 20-0215, MFLUCC 20-0211, and MFLUCC 20-0210 produced higher Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) concentrations of 120.3, 96.5, and 87.5 µg/mL, respectively. Quantitative estimation of phosphate solubilization for these taxa ranged between 2.6-3.6. A dual culture technique was used to determine the in vitro antagonistic activities against pathogenic strains of Colletotrichum sp. isolated from oil palm and coffee, and Corynespora sp. from tomato. Daldinia strains MFLUCC 20-0207 and MFLUCC 20-0216 showed strong antifungal activities with 60.6-87.3% inhibition. Diaporthe strains MFLUCC 20-0206, MFLUCC 20-0208 and MFLUCC 20-0214, and Daldinia strains MFLUCC 20-0210, 20-0211, and 20-0215 exhibited moderate antifungal activity against all test pathogens. Endophytic fungi associated with Oncosperma produced positive results in plant growth activities and biocontrol potential, providing a base for further investigation. Three isolates of Daldinia (MFLUCC 20-0210, MFLUCC 20-0211, MFLUCC 20-0125) were especially promising due to their significantly high IAA production, highest phosphate solubilization, and moderate antagonistic activities. Thus, future research should focus on Daldinia as they possess great potential for a wide range of applications. © 2021, Chiang Mai University. All rights reserved.
Tag: fungal activities
Screening of Phosphate-Solubilizing Fungi From Air and Soil in Yunnan, China: Four Novel Species in Aspergillus, Gongronella, Penicillium, and Talaromyces
Phosphate-solubilizing fungi (PSF) play an important role in increasing the bioavailability of phosphorus in soils for plants. Thirteen fungal strains, one collected from air and 12 from soil, were screened and described here in detail. These fungal strains were tested for their ability to solubilize tricalcium phosphate (TCP) on both solid and liquid Pikovskaya (PVK) media in vitro. The airborne fungal strain KUMCC 18-0196 (Aspergillus hydei sp. nov.) showed the most significant phosphate solubilizing activity on a solid PVK medium with the solubilization index (SI) (2.58 ± 0.04 cm) and the highest solubilized phosphates (1523.33 ± 47.87 μg/mL) on a liquid PVK medium. To the best of our knowledge, A. hydei sp. nov. is the first phosphate-solubilizing fungus reported from air. We also provide the identification especially for Aspergillus, Penicillium and Talaromyces, generally reported as PSF. It is important to not only screen for PSF but also identify species properly so that researchers have a clearer taxonomic picture for identifying potential taxa for future plant growth-promoting applications. Herein, A. hydei (section Nigri), Gongronella hydei, Penicillium soli (section Lanata-Divaricata) and Talaromyces yunnanensis (section Talaromyces) are fully described and introduced as new to science. These four new species are identified based on both morphological characteristics and multigene phylogenetic analyses, including the genealogical concordance phylogenetic species recognition method where necessary. Penicillium austrosinense is considered to be a synonym of P. guaibinense. © Copyright © 2020 Doilom, Guo, Phookamsak, Mortimer, Karunarathna, Dong, Liao, Yan, Pem, Suwannarach, Promputtha, Lumyong and Xu.