Fungal Endophytes in Roots of Aralia Species and Their Antifungal Activity

Endophytic fungi were isolated from surface sterilized root tissues of Aralia elata and Aralia continentalis, collected from farmer's field in Chungnam province, Republic of Korea, in 2005. Based on ITS sequence analysis, 24 fungal genera were characterized from 359 isolates, belonging to 22 Ascomycota, 1 Glomeromycota and 1 Oomycota. Strumella, Rhizopycnis and Entrophospora in A. elata and Rhizopycnis and Leptosphaeria in A. continentalis were the most abundant taxa. Out of 24 genera, Entrophospora, Leptodontidium, Neoplaconema, Paraconiothyrium, Rhizopycnis, Strumella and Tumularia were new to Korea. A total of 110 isolates were tested for antifungal activities against six plant pathogenic fungi. Out of these, 39 isolates showed antifungal activity against at least one plant pathogenic fungi. Four isolates of Pyrenochaeta, 1 isolate of Entrophospora and 1 unidentified fungus strongly inhibited the growth of six plant pathogenic fungi.