Vol. 11, Issue 6 (2022)

Author(s):
N Swaroopa Rani, N Balram, Bharati N Bhat and SNCVL Pushpavalli

Abstract:
Endophytes are the microorganisms that inhabit the internal parts of plants without showing any apparent symptoms in the host plant. The present work aims to study the endophytic fungal communities associated with three rice varieties viz., Jagtial Rice-1, Telangana Sona, and Tetep. A total of 30 endophytic fungi were isolated using tissue transplanting method from leaf, stem and root of the healthy plant at heading stage by using PDA medium. Based on the morphological and microscopic characteristics, the isolated endophytes were identified as Fusarium spp., Aspergillus spp., Chaetomium spp., Curvularia spp., and Nigrospora spp. The isolates were studied for their cultural characteristics like colony color, texture and growth rate on four different media. The results revealed that colony color and texture endophytes did not differ significantly on four types of culture media. However, there was difference in growth rate. The majority of isolates showed highest radial growth rate on OMA followed by MEA, PDA and CZA. Among the 30 isolates, J3 and R5 had the highest and lowest radial growth rates of 7.08 and 3.19 mm/day respectively.