AlSharari Salam S, Galal Fatma H, Seufi AlaaEddeen M
Biology Department, College of Science, Jouf University, Sakaka P.O. Box 72341, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Entomology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza P.O. Box 12613, Egypt.
J Fungi (Basel). 2022 Feb 28;8(3):241. doi: 10.3390/jof8030241.
Saudi Arabia is part of a hot dry desert region and is characterized by stressful conditions. The main goal of this research was to identify endophytic fungal (EF) community composition, diversity and abundance in relation to their plant hosts and soil stress. The above-ground parts of six wild plants (, and ) were sampled, surface-sterilized and cut into small pieces, which were cultured and incubated for 4-6 weeks. Isolates were grouped and identified by using both morphological and ITS rDNA molecular data. The diversity and community structure of plant-endophyte associations were studied. A total of 455 EF isolates were grouped into 25 different taxa; 21 of which were identified at the species level, 2 at genus level and 2 were unclassified fungi. Here, 95.65% of the identified genera were Ascomycota; of which 36.36, 31.81 and 31.81% were members of the classes Dothideomycetes, Eurotiomycetes and Sordariomycetes, respectively. showed the highest isolation rate and colonization frequency (CF%) of EF when compared to other plant species. Additionally, demonstrated the highest species richness and species diversity of the EF community predominated by the genus . Conclusively, the core culturable EF genera of six wild plants were identified (unculturable taxa were not identified in this study). The composition of the EF community was revealed to have a strong correlation to both the electrical conductivity and pH of the soil and a moderate correlation to both the host species and the host family. The abundance and diversity of EF communities of the six plants were environment-dependent.
沙特阿拉伯是炎热干燥沙漠地区的一部分，其特点是环境压力大。本研究的主要目标是确定内生真菌（EF）群落的组成、多样性和丰度与其植物宿主及土壤胁迫之间的关系。采集了六种野生植物（、和）的地上部分，进行表面消毒并切成小块，进行培养和孵育4 - 6周。通过形态学和ITS rDNA分子数据对分离菌株进行分组和鉴定。研究了植物 - 内生菌关联的多样性和群落结构。总共455株EF分离菌株被分为25个不同的分类单元；其中21个在物种水平上被鉴定，2个在属水平上被鉴定，2个为未分类真菌。在此，已鉴定的属中有95.65%为子囊菌门；其中分别有36.36%、31.81%和31.81%是座囊菌纲、散囊菌纲和粪壳菌纲的成员。与其他植物物种相比，显示出最高的EF分离率和定殖频率（CF%）。此外，表明以属为主导的EF群落具有最高的物种丰富度和物种多样性。最终，鉴定出了六种野生植物的核心可培养EF属（本研究未鉴定不可培养分类单元）。结果表明，EF群落的组成与土壤的电导率和pH值均有很强的相关性，与宿主物种和宿主科均有中等程度的相关性。这六种植物的EF群落的丰度和多样性取决于环境。
