Fungal endophytes isolated from mangroves in San Pedro Nature Reserve, Buenaventura

ABSTRACT Mangrove trees grow in estuarine zones in tropical and subtropical regions, where they provide important economic, ecological and cultural services. Studies have shown that these trees are important reservoirs of fungal microorganisms, which encompasses a range of morphologically diverse fungi that are either pathogens, endophytes or saprobes, playing a key role in nutrient cycling, host protection against adverse conditions and in many occasions host decline. To determine the diversity of endophytic fungi associated with mangrove trees in the San Pedro Natural Reserve, Buenaventura, Colombia, healthy branches (length approx. 10 cm) of Laguncularia racemosa, Mora oleifera, Pelliciera rhizophorae and Rhizophora racemosa were collected for the respective fungal isolations. DNA was extracted and the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region was amplified, followed by phylogenetic analyses such as Bayesian (BI), Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Maximum Parsimony (MP). A total of nine genera, Bipolaris, Ciboria, Coprinellus, Cylindrobasidium, Epicoccum, Fusarium, Lasiodiplodia, Neofusicoccum and Neurospora belonging to eight families were identified. Of these, Fusarium, Lasiodiplodia and Neofusicoccum are well known for their high potential to threaten the health of their hosts when conditions are adverse. Endophytic fungi also play an important role in the production of biocompounds for the protection of their hosts.