Endophytic fungal diversity of 2 sand dune wild legumes from the southwest coast of India.

Endophytic fungi of 3 age classes (seeds, seedlings, and mature plants) and 5 tissue classes (cotyledons, seed coats, roots, stems, and leaves) of coastal sand dune legumes Canavalia cathartica and Canavalia maritima were assessed by plating surface-sterilized segments on malt extract agar. Forty-six fungal taxa comprising 6 ascomycetes, 33 mitosporic fungi, 2 zygomycetes, and 5 sterile morphospecies were recovered. There was no significant difference in the colonization frequency of endophytes between plant species (p = 0.4098, Student's t test). Among the age classes, endophytic fungi colonized over 90% of seedlings and mature plants. Similarly, among tissue classes, endophytic fungi colonized over 90% of root, stem, and leaf segments. Diversity and richness of endophytic fungi were higher in C. cathartica than in C. maritima. Rarefaction curves revealed a "higher expected number of species" in mature plants of C. cathartica and seedlings of C. maritima, whereas it was highest in leaves of both plant species. The most dominant endophyte, Chaetomium globosum, colonized over 50% of the root, stem, and leaf segments of C. maritima and over 50% of the root segments of C. cathartica. The colonization frequency of C. globosum was found to be 5%-12.5% in seeds and increased up to 40%-64.4% in seedlings or mature plants. Halosarpheia sp. was the only marine fungus recovered among the endophytes.