Isolation and Identification of Endophytic Fungi of Beech Trees from some Forests in the Suburbs of Sari

Endophytic fungi are fungi that are present in plant tissue at the time of sampling without obvious symptoms. There are several reports that the use of endophytic fungi improves grain yield, increases cold and drought tolerance, resistance to plant pathogens and herbivorous insects. Therefore, these fungi can be used as a biocontrol agent in the protection of crops. Endophytic fungi are a rich source of active metabolites that have the potential to be used in medicine, agriculture, and industry, so this study was conducted to isolate endophytic fungi from hornbeam trees and their morphological and molecular identification from the forests of Sari.

In this study, to identify endophytic fungi from healthy branches of hornbeam trees during autumn 2019 and summer and autumn 2020 of the forests of Sari city were sampled. In the laboratory, each branch sample was kept for 24 months at 24 ° C and continuous darkness after disinfection and culture on PDA medium. Morphological features and sequencing of the ITS region were performed to confirm the morphological identification and sequencing of the relevant dendrogram using version 7.1 of Bioedit software.

In this study, 9 genera and species were identified. Fungal species includ:Alternaria alternata (OM117707), Aspergillus flavus (OM488258), Botryosphaeria dothidea (OM141395), Diaporthe eres (OM131770), Fusarium acuminatum(OM131729),Fusarium sambucinum (OM142129),Mucor fragilis (OM017151), Neofusicuccum parvum (OM017148), Fulvia fulva (OM124921).

In general, the aim of this research was to identify the fungal endophytes of Beech trees based on morphological and molecular data from the forests of Mahdasht, Tabaghdeh, Darabkala and Imamzadeh Zaid Sari located in Mazandaran province.