The potential role of endophytes in the conservation of endangered medicinal plants

Abstract

Enumeration of the endophytic fungi from the red listed, critically endangered medicinal plant, Coscinium fenestratum was investigated for the first time. The ubiquitous presence of 41 endophytic fungi belonging to sixteen different taxa was identified from 195 samples of healthy leaves and stem using traditional morphological methods. The overall colonization rate of endophytes in both the leaf and the stem was found to be 21.02%.The stem showed low percentage frequency of colonization of the endophytic fungi when compared to leaf segments. Among the endophytic flora, Phomopsis jacquiniana was found to be the core-group fungus with a colonization frequency of 4.6%.