Abstract

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of variation in land use, age of host tree, season and geographic location on the diversity of culturable endophytic fungi of needles of Afrocarpus falcatus. Endophytic fungi represent a genetically diverse group of microorganisms associated with healthy tissues of terrestrial plants. They are believed to be mostly beneficial to their host plants and produce novel antimicrobial compounds; or may be latent pathogens that become active at specific stage of development or under a set of environmental conditions. Wondo Genet and Menagesha Suba were the two geographic locations with differing altitudinal and climatic features selected for sample collection. Needle samples were collected from old and young trees growing in natural forests and open lands during dry and wet seasons. Identification of the isolates to the genus level was performed on the basis of culture characteristics and spore morphology. A total of 687 endophytic fungal isolates were obtained and categorized into 64 morphotaxa. Fifty two (81.25%) of the morphotaxa were identified to 12 genera while 12 morphotaxa were left as unidentified. Thirty two (50%) of the morphotaxa were isolated only from the Wondo Genet site while only 3 (4.7%) were isolated from the Menagesha Suba site. The four most diverse genera were Cercosporella, Xylaria, Botryosphaeria and Pestalotiopsis. Phoma was the most abundantly represented genus followed by Xylaria and Pestalotiopsis while Trichotecium and Mycosphaerella were the rarest genera. The Wondo Genet site during the dry season was the most diverse (H’= 3.36649) and many of the morphotaxa were unique to the site; which might be ascribed to the differences in altitudinal, climatic and perhaps additional factors that were not considered in the current study.

Key words: Fungal diversity, morphotaxa, Afrocarpus falcatus.