ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI FROM JATROPHA CURCUS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY

Fungal endophytes are ubiquitously reported from the living tissues of healthy plant parts from every host studied so far. These microbes attributed significantly in upraising the caliber of the host to counteract against the different stresses and herbivores, and also some times to improve the host fitness. This study presenting here the endophytic mycoflora of Jatropha curcus, which remain less explored. A total of eighteen species of fungi were isolated from leaf, stem, and roots of Jatropha curcus. The root was heavily colonized by the genera like Alternaria, Cladosporium, and Aspergillus spp. The leaf tissues however showed somewhat greater diversity of endophytic colonization. Drechslera, Curvularia, Bipolaris, Alternaria, and Aspergillus sp. were dominant in to the leaf tissues with strong presence of an unidentified genus. The species richness as well as frequency of colonization of endophytic fungi was more pronounced in the leaf tissues rather than the root and stem. This study reaffirms the fact that endophytes are host and tissues specific. In this regard, the endophytic fungi received in this study, may represent a unique source of one or more of the interesting and useful bioactive compounds similar to those of vinca alkaloid group