Journal of Plant Pathology & Microbiology

Abstract

Seasonal and Habitat Dependent Variations in Culturable Endophytes of Camellia sinensis

Wanping Fang, Lucheng Yang, Xujun Zhu, Liang Zeng and Xinghui Li

Seasonal and habitat dependent variations in the endophytes of Camellia sinensis are investigated in this study. Stems and leaves of C. sinensis from naked and under-forestry tea garden have been collected for isolating endophytic fungi in January, April and October, respectively, as different seasons. Twenty-one endophytic species including a new species, are observed in this study. It is confirmed that species in under-forestry tea garden are more related to the naked tea garden. However, both habitats have similar evenness indices and Shannon-Wiener indices. Shannon-Wiener indices in spring are highest in all compared seasons. The diversity of species in stem is higher than in leaf. In all seasons, the evenness indices are slightly higher in leaf than stem. The number of endophytic fungi in autumn is the smallest, while the largest in winter. Furthermore, the frequencies of Neurospora crassa, Phomopsis sp4., Trichoderma viride, Phomopsis sp2., Pleosporales sp., Pestalotiopsis microspora,
Glomerella sp., Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Botryosphaeria sp., Penicillium sclerotiorum and Rosellinia sp. vary significantly in different habitats. The composition and diversity of endophytic fungi are different between leaves and stems. Guignardia mangiferae, T. viride, P. sclerotiorum, Pleosporales sp., Phomopsis sp4., C. gloeosporioides, P. clavispora, Glomerella sp. and N. crassa show remarkable organizational preference in tea plants.