Livestock Research for Rural Development 21 (5) 2009 Guide for preparation of papers LRRD News

Citation of this paper

Diversity of fungi associated with mangrove legume Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W. Wight (Fabaceae)

D D Anita, K R Sridhar* and R Bhat*

Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Biosciences, Mangalore University, Mangalagangotri 574 199, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
sirikr@yahoo.com
* Food Technology Division, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia

Abstract

Sesbania bispinosa is one of the naturally growing seasonal wild legumes in coastal habitats of southwest India having high potential as cover crop, mulch, green manure and forage for livestock.  Fungal assemblage and diversity in surface sterilized and unsterilized tissues (root, stem, leaf, pod and seed) of Sesbania bispinosa growing in the mangrove habitat of River Nethravathi, Southwest coast of India has been investigated.

 

The surface sterilized tissues yielded 25 endophytic fungi with a highest of 14 species in roots. Aspergillus niger was the most dominant endophytic fungus in all tissues (mean: 32.6%). Among the three endophytic fungi confined to roots, Dactylospora haliotrepha was a typical mangrove fungus. Four endophytic Aspergillus spp. were confined only to seeds. The endophytic fungal diversity was highest in roots than other tissues. The similarity of endophytic fungi ranged between 16% (roots vs. pods) and 72% (stem vs. pods). Among the 40 fungi recorded in unsterilized tissues, a highest of 22 species was associated with leaves. Fusarium oxysporum was the most dominant fungus in all tissues (mean: 65.8%). About 50% of the fungi restricted to any one of the unsterilized tissues. The Simpson diversity was highest in roots, while Shannon in leaves. The fungal similarities were ranged between 12% (pods vs. seeds) and 44% (roots vs. stem, stem vs. pods). A mangrove fungus, Kallichroma tethys has been isolated from unsterilized stem, leaves and pods. Except for seeds (p > 0.05), the frequency of occurrence of fungi differed significantly between surface sterilized and unsterilized tissues (p < 0.001 to p < 0.05).

 

This study provides a baseline data on fungal association with Sesbania bispinosa for future management of different Sesbania landraces for the benefit of agriculture and animal husbandry.  

Key words: Endophytes, fungal diversity, mangroves, Sesbania bispinosa, wetlands, wild legume


Introduction

The wild leguminous shrub, Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W. Wight [(Synonyms: Aeschynomene aculeata Shreber, Aeschynomene bispinosa Jacq., Coronilla aculeata Willd., Sesbania aculeata (Willd.) Poir., Sesbania cannabina (Retz.) Pers.)] of family Fabaceae (Papilionoideae) is usually cultivated as cover crop to improve the soil fertility and to use as fodder for livestock in a wide geographical range. It is widespread in tropical countries: Africa, China, India, Madagascar, Pakistan and Southeast Asia. It is commonly called canicha, danchi, dunchi fibre, prickly sesban, pricky sisham, sesbania pea (English); sesbane (French); canicha, danchi, dhaincha (Hindi); sanô (Tibetan); mrindazia, msalia-Nyuma (Swahili); sano-khangkhok (Thai). It grows well under water logged or unirrigated conditions, tolerant to high temperatures (36-44°C), high soil alkalinity (pH 10) and establishes during rainy season in a wide variety of soils such as loamy, clayey, black and sandy soils (Prasad 1993, World agroforestry center). It has been considered as a valuable green manure crop due to its fast growth, nitrogen fixation (by root and stem nodulation) and fast decomposition rates (Anonymous 1950, Prasad 1993).

 

Seeds of Sesbania bispinosa (100 kg/ha) in alkaline soils under rain-fed conditions yield green manure or fodder up to 12 t/ha (Prasad 1993). On mulching Sesbania bispinosa in alkaline soil, the pH decreased (9.28 vs. 8.1), while elevated the total organic nitrogen (0.02% vs. 0.5%) (Prasad 1993). The fiber and seeds of Sesbania bispinosa yield gums such as galactomannans, lignins and cellulose (Salpekar and Khan 1997). Although, generally Sesbania bispinosa has not been considered as an important medicinal crop, it possesses several value added medicinal properties (Misra and Siddiqi 2004). Some of the commercially valuable products of Sesbania bispinosa include: food, fodder, fiber, resin and medicine.

 

Along mangrove wetlands of the River Nethravathi, Southwest coast of India, Sesbania bispinosa established well and widely used as mulch, green manure and fodder. The present study envisaged documenting the fungal assemblage and diversity of Sesbania bispinosa growing at the Nethravathi estuarine wetlands. The fungal composition, vertical distribution and diversity in surface sterilized and unsterilized five tissue classes of mature plants were assessed to compare the endophytic fungi with epiphytic/saprophytic fungi in view of understanding their role in defense and decomposition of Sesbania bispinosa.   

 

Materials and methods 

Study site

 

The study site selected was mangrove region of the River Nethravathi, Southwest coast of India (12°50¢27²N, 74°51¢45²E). The mangrove and backwater area covered the seasonal wild legume, Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W. Wight during monsoon and post-monsoon seasons (July-January) (Figure 1).


Figure 1. Young stand of Sesbania bispinosa grown in harvested paddy fields
near the Nethravathi mangroves of Southwest coast of India


The seedlings usually establish during July, flowers in October-November and become senescent/dry in December-February. This legume luxuriously grows in paddy fields and other cultivated lands around the mangrove habitats. The farmers dwelling around the mangroves grow this legume or allow naturally established stands as cover crop for plantations (coconut and areca) or mulch/green manure for some commercial crops (paddy, sugarcane and vegetable) and use as fodder for their livestock.

 

Sesbania 

 

During the post-monsoon season (November-December 2006), mature plants about 50 m apart were selected, uprooted, brought to the laboratory and processed within four hours duration. Four tissue classes (roots, stem, leaves, tender pods) from each plant were separated and cut into segments of one cm length and washed in distilled water to remove the extraneous matter. From dry pods, ten seeds per plant were selected to evaluate the fungal component. The tissue segments and seeds were surface sterilized using 95% ethanol (1 min), 6% sodium hypochlorite (5 min) and 95% ethanol (0.5 min) followed by rinse in sterile distilled water. The segments and seeds were plated on antibiotic amended (tetracycline, 250 mg/l) 1.5% potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium. The tissues and seeds without surface sterilization were also plated on the antibiotic amended PDA medium. The plates were incubated at 23±2°C up to four weeks at 12 hr light and dark regime. Periodically they were screened for the growth of mycelia or discrete colonies on the medium or on the segments/seeds. The growing mycelial portions were transferred to fresh antibiotic-free PDA medium. The fungi were identified based on the spore morphology and colony characteristics using standard monographs and taxonomic keys.

 

Data analysis

 

The percent colonization frequency and mean percent frequency of all fungi and core-group fungi (frequency of occurrence, ≥10%) of surface sterilized and unsterilized tissues were calculated:

   

Frequency of occurrence (%) = [(Number of segments colonized) ÷ (Total segments screened)] ×100

        

Mean % frequency of each fungus = (Total % frequency on all tissues) ÷ (Total tissues screened)

 

Mean % frequency/fungus = (Total % frequency of fungi) ÷ (Total fungi)

                                                     

Mean % frequency/core-group fungus = (Total % frequency of core-group fungi) ÷ (Total fungi)

 

The Simpson and Shannon diversities (Magurran 1988) and evenness (Pielou 1975) were estimated for each tissue. Jaccard’s index of similarity was calculated pair-wise among the tissues based on the presence or absence of each fungal species (Kenkel and Booth 1992). Student’s t-test was employed to assess the difference in frequency of occurrence between sterilized and unsterilized tissues (StatSoft Inc 1995).

                       

Results   

Sterilized tissues

 

Overall, five surface sterilized tissues yielded 25 endophytic fungi (Table 1).


Table 1. Frequency of occurrence (%) of fungi in surface sterilized tissues of mature plants of Sesbania bispinosa of Nethravathi mangroves (MFO, mean % frequency of occurrence) (*also found in unsterilized tissues)

Taxon

Root

Stem

Leaf

Pod

Seed

MFO

*Aspergillus niger Tiegh.

 

37.8

53.4

31.6

40

32.6

*Fusarium oxysporum E.F. Sm. and Swingle

24.5

24.5

15.6

15.6

24.5

20.9

*Aspergillus flavus Link

 

2.2

4.5

8.9

35.6

10.2

Non-sporulating sp. 1

13.2

 

 

 

24.5

7.54

*Penicillium chrysogenum Thom

4.5

11.1

2.2

2.2

8.9

5.78

*Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissl.

8.9

 

 

 

15.6

4.90

Cladosporium oxysporum Berk. and M.A. Curtis

 

9.3

 

 

6.7

3.20

Mucor plumbeus Bonord.

6.7

2.2

2.2

2.2

 

2.66

*Aspergillus fumigatus Fresen.

 

2.2

4.5

2.2

2.2

2.22

Aspergillus candidus Link

 

 

 

 

8.9

1.78

Dactylospora haliotrepha (Kohlm. and E. Kohlm.) Hafellner

8.9

 

 

 

 

1.78

*Trichoderma harzianum Rifai

6.7

 

2.2

 

 

1.78

*Aspergillus parasiticus Speare

 

 

 

 

4.5

0.90

*Alternaria tenuissima (Kunze) Wiltshire

 

2.2

 

2.2

 

0.88

Codinaea assamica (Agnihothr.) S Hughes and W B Kendr.

4.4

 

 

 

 

0.88

Curvularia affinis Boedijn

2.2

2.2

 

 

 

0.88

Curvularia clavata B.L. Jain

 

2.2

2.2

 

 

0.88

*Eurotium chevalieri L. Mangin

 

2.2

 

2.2

 

0.88

Nigrospora sp.

2.2

 

 

 

2.2

     0.88

Pestalotiopsis sp.

2.2

 

 

 

2.2

0.88

*Scytalidium lignicola Pesante

4.4

 

 

 

 

0.88

*Aspergillus oryzae (Ahlb.) E. Cohn

 

 

 

 

2.2

0.44

Aspergillus tamarii Kita

 

 

 

 

2.2

0.44

*Trichoderma hamatum (Bonord.) Bainier

2.2

 

 

 

 

0.44

Yeast sp. 1

2.2

 

 

 

 

0.44

Total taxa

14

11

8

8

14

 

Total core-group taxa

2

3

2

2

5

 


A maximum of 14 species was recovered from root and seed followed by stem (11 species), leaf and pod (8 species) (Figure 2).


 


Figure 2.  Number of fungi in surface sterilized tissues of Sesbania bispinosa


 Aspergillus niger was the most dominant fungus (32.6%) in all tissues followed by Fusarium oxysporum (20.9%) and Aspergillus flavus (10.2%). Six fungi belonged to core-group (frequency of occurrence ≥10%) in at least one of the tissues. Seeds consist of a maximum of five core-group fungi (Figure 3).


 


Figure 3.  Mean frequency of occurrence in surface sterilized tissues of Sesbania bispinosa


Among core-group fungi, non-sporulating sp. 1 was dominant only in root and seed. Three fungi were restricted to root (Codinaea assamica, Dactylospora haliotrepha and Trichoderma hamatum), while four to seed (Aspergillus candidus, Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus tamarii). The mean frequency of occurrence per fungus was highest in seed followed by leaf tissues (Figure 3). The contribution of core-group fungi was over 75% in all tissues except for root (<50%). The species accumulation curve between root to seed was not steep in total as well as core-group fungi (Figure 4).


 


Figure 4.  Species accumulation curve in surface sterilized tissues of Sesbania bispinosa


Unsterilized tissues

 

Unsterilized tissues yielded 40 fungi with a maximum of 22 species in leaf followed by pod (21), root (19) and stem (18) (Table 2, Figure 5).


Table 2.  Frequency of occurrence (%) of fungi in unsterilized tissues of mature plants of Sesbania bispinosa of Nethravathi mangroves (MFO, mean % frequency of occurrence) (*also found in sterilized tissues)

.Taxon

Root

Stem

Leaf

Pod

Seed

MFO

*Fusarium oxysporum E.F. Sm. and Swingle

37.8

 73.4

 66.7

 75.6

 75.6

65.8

*Aspergillus niger Tiegh.

11.1

 60

53.4

44.5

 

33.8

*Penicillium chrysogenum Thom

 15.6

 15.6

17.5

 33.4

4.5

17.3

Mucor microsporus Naumov

37.8

2.2

4.5

 

11.2

11.1

Penicillium italicum Stoll

2.2

8.9

5.6

35.6

 

10.5

*Trichoderma harzianum Rifai

26.7

8.9

13.4

2.2

 

10.2

*Aspergillus oryzae (Ahlb.) E. Cohn

 

11.1

17.8

17.8

 

9.34

*Aspergillus flavus Link

2.2

6.7

 8.9

 4.5

8.9

6.24

Aspergillus sydowii (Bainier and Sartory) Thom and Church

 

22.3

 

8.9

 

6.24

Periconia sp.

 

11.2

6.7

8.9

 

5.36

*Scytalidium lignicola Pesante

6.7

4.5

6.7

6.7

 

4.92

Aspergillus terreus Thom

 

 

13.4

6.7

 

4.02

Non-sporulating sp. 2

8.9

2.2

4.5

 

4.5

4.02

Kallichroma tethys (Kohlm. and Kohlm.) Kohlm. and Volkm.-Kohlm.

 

4.5

11.2

2.2

 

3.58

*Trichoderma hamatum (Bonord.) Bainier

2.2

4.5

 

4.5

 

2.24

Yeast sp. 2

11.1

 

 

 

 

2.22

*Aspergillus fumigatus Fresen.

2.2

 2.2

 2.2

 

2.2

1.76

Colletotrichum sp.

2.2

 

 

 

4.5

1.34

Diplodia sp.

4.5

2.2

 

 

 

1.34

Trichoderma pseudokoningi Rifai

6.7

 

 

 

 

1.34

Chaetocladium brefeldii Tiegh. and G. Le Monn.

 

 

4.5

 

 

0.90

Penicillium citrinum Sopp

 

 

4.5

 

 

0.90

*Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissl.

 

 

2.2

2.2

 

0.88

*Eurotium chevalieri L. Mangin

 

 

2.2

 2.2

 

0.88

Alternaria arbusti E.G. Simmons

 

 

 

2.2

 

0.44

Alternaria dianthi F. Stevens and J.G. Hall

 

 

 

2.2

 

0.44

Alternaria eryngii (Pers.) S. Hughes and E.G. Simmons

 

 

 

2.2

 

0.44

*Alternaria tenuissima (Kunze) Wiltshire

2.2

 

 

 

 

0.44

*Aspergillus parasiticus Speare

2.2

 

 

 

 

0.44

Aspergillus versicolor (Vuill.) Tirab.

 

 

2.2

 

 

0.44

Curvularia eragrostidis (Henn.) J.A. Mey.

 

 

 

2.2

 

0.44

Curvularia sp.

 

 

 

2.2

 

0.44

Drechslera halodes (Drechsler) Subram. and B.L. Jain

 

 

2.2

 

 

0.44

Myrothecium striatisporum N.C. Preston

 

 

2.2

 

 

0.44

Myrothecium sp. 

 

 

 

2.2

 

0.44

Paecilomyces sp.

2.2

 

 

 

 

0.44

Philophora agaricina Wallr.

 

2.2

 

 

 

0.44

Phoma sp.

 

 

2.2

 

 

0.44

Phomopsis sp.

2.2

 

 

 

 

0.44

Ulocladium consortiale (Thüm.) E.G. Simmons

 

2.2

 

 

 

0.44

Total taxa

19

18

22

21

7

 

Total core-group taxa

6

6

7

 5

 2

 



 


Figure 5.  Number of fungi in surface unsterilized tissues of Sesbania bispinosa


Fusarium oxysporum was the most dominant fungus (65.8%) in all tissues followed by Aspergillus niger (33,8%) and Penicillium chrysogenum (17.3%). Twelve fungi belonged to core-group and dominant in at least in one of the tissues. Seed consists of a maximum of five core-group fungi (Figure 6).


 


Figure 6.  Mean frequency of occurrence in surface unsterilized tissues of Sesbania bispinosa


Up to 50% of the total fungi were confined at least to one of the tissues. The mean frequency of occurrence per fungus was highest in seed followed by stem, pod, leaf and root (Figure 6). The contribution of core-group fungi was over 75% in all tissues except for stem (about 50%). There was a steep increase in the species accumulation curve of total fungi than core-group fungi between root to seed (Figure 7).


 


Figure 7.  Species accumulation curve in surface unsterilized tissues of Sesbania bispinosa


Diversity and similarity

 

In surface sterilized tissues, the Simpson and Shannon diversities and Pielou evenness were highest in root followed by seed (Table 3).


Table 3.  Diversity of fungi in surface sterilized and unsterilized (in parenthesis) tissues of mature plants of Sesbania bispinosa of Nethravathi mangroves

 

Root

Stem

Leaf

Pod

Seed

Simpson diversity

0.854 (0.866)

0.748 (0.819)

0.553 (0.855)

0.672 (0.841)

0.849 (0.487)

Shannon diversity

2.424 (2.472)

1.799 (2.229)

1.296 (2.517)

1.547 (2.345)

2.231 (1.167)

Evenness

0.807 (0.624)

0.549 (0.516)

0.457 (0.563)

0.587 (0.497)

0.665 (0.459)


The highest similarity of fungi was seen between stem and pod (72%) followed by stem and leaf (64%) and leaf and pod (60%), while it was least between root and pod (16%) (Table 4).


Table 4.  Jaccard’s percent similarity index of surface sterilized and unsterilized (in parenthesis) mature plants tissues of Sesbania bispinosa of Nethravathi mangroves

 

Stem

Leaf

Pod

Seed

Root

20 (44)

22 (32)

16 (25)

25 (29)

 

Stem

64 (46)

72 (44)

28 (29)

 

 

Leaf

60 (41)

31 (23)

 

 

 

Pod

31 (12)


In unsterilized tissues, Simpson diversity was highest in root and Shannon diversity in leaf, while the evenness was highest in root (Table 3). The similarities were ranged between 12% (pod vs. seed) to 44% (root vs. stem and stem vs. pod) (Table 4). Thirteen fungi were common to sterilized and unsterilized tissues (Table 1, 2). Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium chrysogenum constitute the top ranked core-group fungi in both treatments. Except for seed (p > 0.05), the percent frequency of occurrence of fungi differed significantly between surface sterilized and unsterilized root (p < 0.05), stem (p < 0.01), leaf (p < 0.001) and pod (p < 0.001).

 

Discussion  

Mangroves and estuaries of the west coast of India encompass a variety of natural vegetation such as typical mangroves, mangrove associates and salt-tolerant plant species (Rao and Suresh 2001). Several wild legumes have been established in mangrove and estuarine habitats of the mouth of River Nethravathi. Among them, Sesbania spp. and Canavalia are of special significance to farmers for improving the soil fertility. Sesbania spp. (Sesbania bispinosa and S. rostrata) are seasonal, growing during wet season (June-January), while Canavalia cathartica as perennial creeper. Among Sesbania spp., Sesbania bispinosa is dominant in Nethravathi mangrove and estuarine region and widely used by the farmers as green manure and fodder. 

 

Studies on mycoflora of mangrove vegetation have been initiated very recently (Hyde and Lee 1995) and out of 54 mangrove tree species and 60 mangrove associates, only 55 have been investigated for fungi (Jones and Alias 1996). Usually the decomposing mangrove litter consists of more of ascomycetes than mitosporic fungi (Kohlmeyer and Volkmann-Kohlmeyer 1991). In our study, fungal component of Sesbania bispinosa consists of more of mitosporic fungi than other groups thus corroborates with earlier investigations on foliar and root endophytes of mangroves, mangrove associates and seagrasses (Suryanarayanan et al 1998, Kumaresan and Suryanarayanan 2001, 2002, Devarajan et al 2002, Ananda and Sridhar 2002). Similarly, endophytic fungi of the coastal sand dune vegetation dominated by mitosporic fungi (Beena et al 2000, Maria and Sridhar 2003).

 

Our study reveals that different tissues of Sesbania bispinosa were highly colonized by endophytic fungi. Surface sterilized tissues possess lesser fungi than unsterilized tissues (25 vs. 40 species) indicate the selection in endophytic fungi. It has been supported by significant difference in frequency of occurrence between sterilized and unsterilized segments of root (p < 0.05), stem (p < 0.01), leaf (p < 0.001) and pod (p < 0.001). However, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium crysogenum were the top ranking or core-group species in sterilized as well as unsterilized tissues. Similarly, 13 fungi were common in sterilized and unsterilized segments indicates their duel role as endophytes and epiphytes/saprophytes.

 

Endophytic fungi of Pinus sylvestris and Fagus sylvatica showed tissue specificity in whole-stem and xylem (Petrini and Fisher 1988). In our study, some fungi found in many unsterilized tissues were confined to specific tissue as endophytes (e.g. seed: Aspergillus oryzae; root: Scytalidium lignicola, Trichoderma hamatum) or vice versa (root: Alternaria tenuissima). However, even though Aspergilus parasiticus was confined as seed endophyte, it was also known from unsterilized root tissues. Many endophytic fungi did not establish on the PDA medium without surface sterilization reveals competition of epiphytic/saprophytic fungi, which might have suppressed their growth. For instance, seeds without sterilization yielded only seven fungi, while 14 on sterilization (see Table 1, 2). Fusarium oxysporum, as a highly dominant fungus (75.6%) might have contributed for suppression of other fungi in unsterilized seed.

 

Contribution of core-group fungi is important as they dominate. In the present study, based on their frequency of occurrence, the core-group fungi contribute between 40 and 80% (see Figure 3, 6) and may play a major role in plant defense or in tissue decomposition. Multiple species dominance was seen in all tissues of Sesbania bispinosa except for unsterilized seed (dominated by Fusarium oxysporum, 76%). Multiple species dominance of endophytic fungi was seen in many mangrove and mangrove associate plant species (Acanthus ilicifolius, Acrostichum aureum, Avicennia officinalis, Lumnitzera recemosa, Rhizophora mucronata and Sonneratia caseolaris) (Kumaresan and Suryanarayanan 2001, Ananda and Sridhar 2002, Maria and Sridhar 2003). Similarly, single species dominance in endophytic fungi was also found in mangrove plants (Avicennia marina, Bruguiera cylindrica, Rhizophora apiculata, Rhizophora mucronata and Suaeda maritima) (Suryanaraynan et al 1998, Suryanarayanan and Kumaresan 2000, Kumaresan and Suryanarayanan 2001).

 

The similarity of fungi in stem vs. leaf/pod and leaf vs. pod was high (41-72%) unlike other tissue pairs (12-32%) tested with an exception of root vs. stem (44%). This reveals that they have a major role in decomposition of Sesbania bispinosa on its senescence. Most of the fungi recovered in the current study resemble the terrestrial fungi except for two typical mangrove fungi. Dactylospora haliotrepha was endophytic in roots (8.9%), while Kallichroma tethys grew on unsterilized stem, leaf and pod segments (2.2-11.2%). Maria and Sridhar (2003) also recovered a typical mangrove fungus, Cumulospora marina in sterilized roots of Acanthus ilicifolius in Nethravathi mangrove (4%). The wild legumes, Canavalia spp. in coastal sand dunes of the west coast of India also comprise of Halosarpheia sp. (3%) as an endophytic marine fungus (Seena and Sridhar 2004). However, up to 13% of endophytic fungi were marine fungi (Monodictys pelagica, Periconia prolifica, Verruculina enalia and Zalerion maritimum) in roots of coastal sand dune non-leguminous plant species (Ipomoea pes-caprae, Launaea sarmentosa, and Polycarpaea corymbosa) (Beena et al 2000). Although terrestrial fungi dominate as endophytes, depending on the impact of salinity, terrestrial and mangrove fungi may involve in decomposition of plant remains in mangrove habitats (Maria and Sridhar 2003, 2004).

 

The role of endophytes in grasses has been understood better than non-grass endophytes (Hyde and Soytong 2009). The non-grass endophytes are important due to their ability to decrease insect herbivory, increase drought resistance, increase disease resistance and enhance plant growth (Fröhlich et al 2000; Sieber 2007). Therefore, non-grass hosts gain several beneficial traits by the mutualistic association with endophytic fungi. Endophytic fungi have also been recognized as a major source of novel bioactive compounds and secondary metabolites useful in biological control (Strobel 2003). Schulz et al (1999) predicted the production of herbicidally active metabolites by endophytic fungi is up to 2-3 times higher than phytopathogenic and soil fungi. Carroll (1991) opined that fungal endophytes are capable of defending long-lived plants against short-cycle herbivorous insects.

 

Our study on fungal associates with Sesbania bispinosa poses many questions. What are the roles of endophytic fungi associated with Sesbania bispinosa? Do they protect these seasonal plants against insect herbivory? In fact, insect herbivores are numerous during the monsoon season of the Southwest coast of India. Do these endophytes enhance the drought resistance and disease resistance? Do they also promote growth and longevity of plant species? These questions are pertinent in the interest of domestication of Sesbania bispinosa, a natural legume landrace used as forage for livestock and to enhance the soil fertility. Further studies need to focus on the fungal endophytic flora of different species of Sesbania distributed in various habitats (e.g. wetlands, dry lands, coastal sand dunes) and their bioactive potential. The fungal decomposition of Sesbania bispinosa in mangrove wetlands will be of special interest to understand the rate of turnover and improvement of soil fertility.  

 

Conclusions  

 

Acknowledgements 

The authors are grateful to Mangalore University permission to carry out this study at the Department of Biosciences. DDA acknowledges the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India and Mangalore University, Karnataka, India for the award of Junior Research Fellowship under scheme Research Fellowship in Sciences for Meritorious Students.

 

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Received 29 September 2008; Accepted 27 January 2009; Published 1 May 2009

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