Identification of Population Structure of Two Fungal Endophytes Fusarium sp. and Thielavia sp. and their Spatial-Temporal Abundance in Different Tissues of Six Species of Halophyte Plants

Abstract

Introduction: All plants in natural ecosystems seem to symbiose with fungal endophytes. This highly diverse group of fungi can have profound effects on plant communities by helping to tolerate abiotic and biological stresses, increasing biomass, and reducing water consumption or changing resource allocation. Materials and Methods: In this study, the spatio-temporal biodiversity of fungal endophytes of Fusarium sp. and Thielavia sp. isolated from six species of halophyte plants was examined. The spatio-temporal biodiversity of these two fungal endophytes in different tissues of halophyte plant species was assessed by PAST software using Simpson, Shannon, and Margalf richness indices. The ITS-specific primer was used for the molecular identification of fungi. Results: The results of the study showed that the highest frequency was related to the fungal endophyte Thielavia sp. 21.75% in the stem. Examination of the Simpson, Shannon, and Margalf richness indices showed that the highest fungal endophyte diversity for these indices were 0.498, 0.691, and 0.445 in the stem of Bienertia cycloptera, respectively. Also, the results of the Simpson and Shannon diversity index showed that the highest fungal endophyte diversity of 0.500 and 0.693 was observed in the plant species of Abu Musa Island, and for the Margalf richness index, the highest fungal endophytic diversity of 0.455 was observed in Sirik port. Discussion and Conclusion: The results of this study showed the high spatio-temporal diversity of the two fungal endophyte species in the six saline plant species studied. Based on this information, it can be concluded that the supply of endophytes from geographical areas in which plant species are highly diverse, can be effective in the success of the plant colonization program.