Fungal Endophytes Associated with Gloriosa superba (L.)

Gloriosa superba (L.) of the family Colchicaceae is a tuberous endangered plant, rich in several bioactive compounds like alkaloids and sterols. The tubers of the plant have medicinal value and are used to treat inflammation, skin infections, rheumatoid arthritis and other ailments. Since large-scale exploitation of the plant is detrimental to the biodiversity, the compounds obtained from other sources, especially the endophytes, which are known to produce the same bioactive compounds as that of the host plants are looked for. The endophytic fungi from roots, stem and leaves were isolated and identified based on morphotyping and ITS–DNA sequences. A total of 233 isolates were recovered from a total of 450 segments of root, stem and leaf. A large and diverse number of endophytic fungi were recovered from roots when compared to other parts of the plant. Bipolaris cynodontis, B. specifera, Fusarium oxysporum and F. solani were found as dominant colonizers of root in addition to Talaromyces pinophilus, Oidiodendron spp. and Colletotrichum gleosporioides. The isolated endophytes belonged to seven morphotypes: a majority of them were Hyphomycetes (65.21%), followed by Dothideomycetes (13.04%), Coelomycetes (8.69%), Sordariomycetes (4.34%), Eurotiomycetes (4.34%), Leotiomycetes (4.34%) and Zygomycetes (4.34%). The colonization frequency was found to be high in roots followed by stem and leaves. These endophytes could be exploited for screening novel secondary metabolites which can be used as therapeutic agents. © 2018, The National Academy of Sciences, India.