Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography
Open Access

Abstract

Endophytic fungi are a group of fungal micro-organisms that colonize the living, internal tissues of plants without any overt negative symptoms. Every plant species is known to harbor one or the other endophytic fungi, however a systematic study of their occurrence in medicinal plants still need to be elucidated. In the present study, Zingiber nimmonii (J. Graham) Dalzell. (Zingiberaceae), an endemic medicinal plant of Western Ghats has been analyzed for endophytic fungal diversity. Various species of Zingiber is used in traditional medicine and as spices. Z. nimmonii is also reported for the presence of antimicrobial property. In this study, Z. nimmonii was collected from the natural habitat of Talacauvery, region of Western Ghats, Karnataka, during the month of November, 2011. All the plant parts such as root, rhizome, leaf, petiole, inflorescence and seeds were processed under aseptic conditions by surface sterilization techniques for the isolation of endophytes as per standard protocols. One thousand fifty seven fungal isolates belonging to 10 different taxa were identified from 1200 tissue segments of different plant parts. Per cent colonization of root, inflorescence and seeds were 100% followed by leaf (90.48%), whereas petiole and rhizome showed 72.85% and 62% colonization respectively. Among the endophytic flora from roots Wardomyces columbines showed highest colonization frequency of 15.2% followed by Trichoderma viridae (9.2%). In leaf, Alternaria sp. was dominant with the colonization frequency of 9.5%. On the other hand, single dominant fungal taxa have been isolated from seeds. The present study, reports for the first time, the diversity of endophytic fungi from the plant parts of Z. nimmonii.

Biography

My name is Madhuchhanda Das. I have done Bachelor in Science with Botany honors from University of Calcutta in the year 2006. I have completed my Masters in Science in Botany from the same University in the year 2008. Subsequently I have done M. Phill degree from North Orissa University in the year 2009. During M.Phil I have done a piece of research work on 'Study on a most popular street food: Bacteriology and effect of essential oils on pathogens found in Panipuri?. Later the work is published in the Journal of food Science and Technology. Presently I am working as a ?Project Fellow? under UGC sponsored project in DoS in Botany University of Mysore under the guidance of Dr. M. S. Nalini since October 2011.