[Ecological distribution and genetic relation of endophytic fungi in Cynomorium songaricum and its host Nitraria tangutorum].

This is the first report of the distribution and genetic relationships of endophytic fungi from the parasitic plant Cynomorium songaricum and its host Nitraria tangutorum. Endophytic fungi from the root of natural N. tangutorum, parasitic plant C. songaricum and its host N. tangutorum were isolated by tissue culture, and they were identified by morphology combined with molecular barcoding based on ITS-rDNA sequence. The isolation rates, colonization rates, isolation frequency, diversity index, evenness index, similarity coefficient and genetic relationships among fungal taxa were estimated by phylogenetic analysis, and differences in fungal endophyte distribution were investigated. The results showed that a total of 49 isolates were obtained belonging to 18 different taxa. 95.9% of these taxa were in Ascomycota, and the remaining was in Basidiomycota (4.1%). The isolation rate and colonization rate of endophytic fungi were 15.3% and 25.0%, respectively. The Shannon biodiversity index was the highest in the root of natural N. tangutorum at 2.13. The simila-rity coefficient was highest between the stem of C. songaricum and the flower of C. songaricum at0.50. Fusarium was the dominant genus in N. tangutorum, while Penicillium was the primary genus in C. songaricum. The differential distribution of fungal taxa between N. tangutorum and C. songaricum suggested that the parasitic relationship influences the endophytic fungal community.