Technical Sessions-Oral Session 1 abstracts-OS-11-OS-19

36th Ann. Meeting of MSI & Nat. Seminar on Fungal Biodiversity & Bioprospecting….. Goa, India Oct., 29-30, 2009

ORAL SESSION 1

OS – 11

Contribution to the macrolichens of Karnataka

Archana Dube and Gayatri Chitale
Agharkar Research Institute, Pune 411 004.

The importance of floristics studies of a plant group hardly needs any justification, particularly at a time when elimination of forests is continued, resulting in the destruction of plant habitats in large scale mainly due to biotic factors. From the botanical point of view the Western Ghats have a special position in the Indian subcontinent for their interesting lichen flora. Karnataka lies between 11° 36‘and 18° 25’ N latitude and 74° 10’ and 78° 35’ E longitude, with 19 districts. The state has a total land area of 1, 91, 791 sq. km of which 38724 sq. km is recorded as forest cover with 5 National Parks and 21 Wildlife sanctuaries.
There has never been a comprehensive treatment of the lichens of Karnataka; several species have been described in scattered publication including monographic accounts.
Out of 2450 species so far enumerated from the Indian subcontinent (Awasthi, 2000), a total of 303 species were later in recorded from Karnataka by various lichenologists in various scattered publications. Later in “A compendium of the macrolichens from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka”, D. D. Awasthi (2007) recorded a total of 810 macrolichens species and reported the occurrence of 59 species from Karnataka.
In the present study of lichens of Karnataka the occurrence of 111 macrolichen species distributed in 29 genera which represents 13.70 % macrolichens and 23.77% genera of the total lichen flora of India. Predominating taxa belong to families Parmeliaceae with 49 species (i.e. approximately 6.04 %) and family Physciaceae with 28 species (i.e. approximately 3.45 %) which indicates the occurrence of secondary forest in this area.
Three National parks have been partly studied resulting into 32 macrolichen species in 10 genera and three Wildlife sanctuaries have been studied resulting into 13 species in 6 genera. The ongoing further studies will surely increase the macrolichen species.

OS – 12

Enumeration of Fungal Endophytes from Marine Algae

K. P. Kannan*, C. Srenath Kumar**, R. Rengasamy**, J. Muthumary**, and
N. K. Udaya Prakash***
Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathayamangalm, 638 401, Erode District.
**Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, Guindy campus, University of Madras, Chennai 600 025.
***MARINA LABS, 40, Margo Mansion, Anna Nedum Pathai, Choolaimedu,Chennai 600 094.
*E-mail : kp_kannan2001@yahoo.co.in

Fungal endophytes are extremely common and highly diverse microorganisms that live within plant tissues. The diversity of endophytic fungi in marine algae has been a neglected field. Hence in the present investigation we screened some marine algae such as: Gracillaria verucosa, Padina boergeseni, Sargassum wightii, Turbinaria conoides, and Ulva lactuca, collected from Mandapam, Rameswaram for the presence endophytic fungal prapagules in media containing 50% sea water and 100% sea water. It was interesting to note that many endophytic fungi were obtained even the medium containing 100% salinity. Results of this present investigation will be discussed in detail

OS – 13

Role of microfungi as endophytes and litter colonizers in different plant species of Western Ghats

Maria A. D’Souza* and D. J. Bhat**
G6A, La Marvel Colony, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004.
**Department of Botany, Goa University, Goa 403 206.
*E-mail:majorina1@rediffmail.com

In the degradation process, the endophytic as well as the litter inhabiting microfungi play an important role which has been recognized and supported by different workers. In this study, a variety of plants substrates, i.e. leaf litter, fresh leaves/twigs, were sourced from varied plant species from different locations. These were subjected to different isolation techniques, viz. moist-chamber; particle-plating and 3-step surface sterilization isolation techniques, which together resulted with recovery of a large number of associative fungi. In all, 388 micro-fungi were recovered from 26 plant species. Several recovered fungi were new to science.
Results showed that some of the fungi recovered as endophytes were later continued as litter degraders. While some fungi showed substrate specificity others exhibited diverse distribution. Those occurred both as endophytes and litter degraders were subjected further to their enzyme analysis. It was observed that habitat and habits dictated enzyme activity in fungi.
Though the work is of preliminary in nature, it is hoped that the idea can be taken further to understand the substrate preference in fungi in relation to their host plants.

OS – 14

A comparison of two techniques to study diversity of soil fungi

J. Pratibha and S. Raghukumar
MykoTech Pvt. Ltd., Mapusa Industrial Estate, Mapusa Goa 403 507.

Soil inhabiting fungi have always remained at centre stage for mycologists, as a majority of the 80,000 fungal species so far described are likely to occur in the soil environment at some stage in their life-cycle. Most studies on the diversity of soil fungi so far have relied upon isolation on nutrient media using methods such as serial dilution technique. In order to enhance more complete recovery of fungi, we devised a moist chamber incubation technique along with conventional serial dilution for our soil samples. The two methods together resulted in the isolation of more than 100 species of fungi belonging to 45 genera: Hyphomycetes (34), Ascomycetes (3) and Zygomycetes (8) from seven different soil samples. The isolated fungal flora showed wide difference in species composition with both the techniques. The number of fungi isolated using soil dilution were more. However, moist chamber incubation yielded more unusual fungi such as Cancellidium, Camposporium, Fusticeps, Mortierella, Venustosynnema etc., as compared to serial dilution, which resulted in isolation of common fungi like Aspergillus, Gliocladium, Humicola, Paecilomyces, Penicillium etc. We recommend a combination of both techniques to obtain a more complete picture of fungal diversity associated with particular soil samples.

OS – 15

Diversity of microfungi in Deccan Plateau of the Western Ghats, India

K. C. Rajeshkumar*, P.N. Singh, Lal Sahab Yadav and S.K. Singh
National Facility for Culture Collection of Fungi, Agharkar Research Institute,
G.G. Agarkar Road, Pune 411004 (MS).
*E-mail: rajeshfungi@rediffmail.com

The diverse forest ecosystems in the Western Ghats support rich flora and fauna. However, there is no comprehensive account that would give a realistic estimate of the number of species and their bio-geographical distribution in the Western Ghats. It is an existing challenge in identification of species and their systematic arrangements. Plant pathologists and mycologists in the country have been putting great endeavor to explore the fungal biota of the Western Ghats in times. However, the lion-share of the mycobiota is yet to be explored and conserved.
A detailed inventory of the microfungi and their microhabitats is inevitable to understand their diversity, distribution and present status of biodiversity of the region. Hence, it is necessary to survey the unexplored and under-explored areas to know the diversity and to develop suitable conservation measures as well as for sustainable management. Reconnaissance was conducted to explore the microfungal diversity in the Mahabaleshwar, Bhimmashankar, Mulshi areas of Deccan plateau. In present study a total of 70 disease specimens were collected which include leaf spot, leaf blotches, leaf rust, powdery mildew, black mildew and causal agents were isolated and Identified. In total 26 genera of microfungi belonging to 18 fungal families were isolated and identified from the study area. The dominant plant pathogens identified in the study were Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Corynespora cassicola, Cylindrocladium clavatum, Glomerella cingulata, Guignardia sp., Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Mycohypallage congesta, Pestalotiopsis maculans, Phyllosticta sp., Phomopsis sp., Meliolina memecyli etc. In overall observation, fungi belonging to anamorphic ascomycota dominated in the study area.

OS – 16

Genetic diversity among Sclerotium rolfsii isolates of Central India, a bioherbicidal agent against Parthenium

Rekha Shukla and A. K. Pandey
Mycology Research Laboratory
Department of Bioscience, R.D University, Jabalpur 482 001.

Sclerotium rolfsii is a soil borne pathogen, causes severe collar rot disease in Parthenium. It has wide host range therefore, creates doubt about its suitability as mycoherbicide. However, significant molecular, pathogenic and morphological diversity has already been reported by several workers. A total of 20 S. rolfsii isolates, isolated from different hosts and places were used for study. Remarkable phenotypic, pathogenic and biochemical variability was observed amongst all the isolates tested. ITS-RFLP profile of all the isolates was studied using restriction enzymes HindIII, HpaI and TaqI. Diversity was also analysed by studying RAPD pattern of all the S.rolfsii isolates using primers OPE-12 and OPB-17. Significant diversity was recorded amongst all the S.rolfsii isolates. However, few isolates didn’t show significant dissimilarity. Although the mycoherbicidal isolate i.e. Par#02 was observed to be genotypically different from rest of the isolates but it was discored to be similar to hyp#02 isolate isolated from Hyptis suaveolens. However, sequencing of the ITS region of the isolate par#02 may aid in discerning this isolate from other one i.e. hyp#2

OS – 17

Ecology and diversity of macrofungi in Pune District of Maharashtra

G. Senthilarasu, Santosh Swami and S.K. Singh
National Facility for Culture Collection of Fungi, Agharkar Research Institute,
G.G. Agarkar Road, Pune 411004 (MS).

The diversity of macrofungi largely and directly relies on type of vegetation, soil and climate. They exhibit patterns of diversity that are related largely to substratum and host availability, and their fruiting is climate driven. Different species however, exhibit different fruiting phonologies, which vary from year to year and at different elevations and latitudes. In the present work, seven different places in Pune District of Maharashtra were selected to study the diversity of macrofungi. Among those seven, four places such as ARI campus and Pune University campus for plain areas and Mulshi and Mahabaleshwar for forest areas were selected to study an ecological diversity of macrofungi.
A total of 140 macrofungi were collected from all the seven different places. The species were assigned to their respective orders viz., Agaricales, Auriculariales, Boletales, Geastrales, Hymenochaetales, Phallales, Polyporales and Thelephorales. Species belonging to the orders Agaricales and Polyporales were dominated in all the areas. The diversity of macrofungi was considerably varied based on type of vegetation, climate, substrate and altitude which will be discussed in detail.

OS – 18

Recent approaches to study of freshwater hyphomycetes

K. R. Sridhar*
Department of Biosciences, Mangalore University, Mangalagangotri, Mangalore 574 199, Karnataka.
*E-mail: sirikr@yahoo.com

Freshwater hyphomycetes are mainly responsible for plant litter decomposition in lotic habitats. Several conventional and modern techniques (from microscopy to DNA barcoding) have been employed to study freshwater hyphomycetes and allied group of fungi. As traditional and molecular techniques assess different aspects of the fungal diversity and roles, it is necessary to employ both techniques for a balanced view. This group of fungi serves as a model mycoflora in assessment of assemblage, diversity, ecological and biochemical functions in lotic habitats. Although they are valuable component of freshwater ecosystems, they become neglected mycota in tropics. Some recent developments along with gaps in our knowledge and techniques necessary to be employed to study freshwater hyphomycetes have been emphasized.

OS – 19

Aquatic hyphomycetes in tree canopies of Kaiga, Western Ghats

N. M. Sudheep* and K. R. Sridhar
Department of Biosciences, Mangalore University, Mangalagangotri, Mangalore 574 199, Karnataka.
*E-mail: sudheepnm@gmail.com

Aquatic hyphomycetes usually associated with decaying plant litter in lotic habitats and involve in energy flow. However, several aquatic hyphomycetes have been reported from the tree canopies (e.g. intact leaves, through fall, stemflow, tree holes, epiphytes). Over 100 species of aquatic hyphomycetes have been reported from the Western Ghats (leaf litter, foam and water) mainly from the streams at different altitudes. The present study mainly focused on the occurrence of aquatic hyphomycetes in tree holes (trapped leaf litter and sediment), stemflow and throughfall of selected tree species in the vicinity of River Kali near Kaiga (Karwar, Karnataka). Besides filtering canopy waters, bubble chamber incubation and recolonization approaches were employed to assess fungal diversity in trapped leaf litter and sediments. It is assumed that substantial diversity of aquatic hyphomycetes exists in the canopies of riparian and non-riparian vegetation, which replenish their propagules (either anamorphic or telemorphic) to other terrestrial, semi-aquatic and aquatic habitats.