Biodiversity study and potential of fungal endophytes of peppermint and effect of their extract on chickpea rot pathogens

摘要

India is the highest producer of Cicer arietinum, however the crop is susceptible to plant fungal diseases i.e. Sderotinia sclerotiorum, Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solanl. For a sustainable alternative, anti-plant pathogenicefficacy of fungal endophytes were investigated. Endophytic fungi of Mentha piperita were investigated for biodiversity, biocontrol potential towards these phytopathogens and their metabolite profiling. Sixty three fungal isolates were recovered from peppermints sampled in different seasons from distinct regions of India. Endophytic fungi were identified by ITS-rDNA sequence process. PCA divulged seasonal variability with exclusive presence of Colletotrichum sp., D. phaseolorum, Alternaria sp., Hypocreasp. and R. oryzae in second sampling season. Shannon diversity index (HO was found to be highest in leaf (1.253) from Mukteshwar. Acremonium sp. (MPM-2.1) extract exhibited anti-plant pathogenic activity with < 1 mg/ml IC50 value towards phytopathogens.GC-MS chromatography of potent biocontrol fungus Acremonium sp. (MPHSS-2.1) confirmed presence of antifungal compounds 1-heptacosanol and 1-nonadecane.