Endophytic fungi associated with four endemic wild coffee species (Mascarocoffea) in Madagascar

Abstract

Mascarocoffea are wild coffee plants endemic to Madagascar. These plants produce diverse, often specific biomolecules that are not found in cultivated coffee plants. Production of these compounds could be due to interactions between the endophytes and the host plant. Few studies have been carried out on the richness and diversity of microorganisms associated with these coffee plants. The objective of this study was to identify endophytic fungi isolated from the leaves of species of Mascarocoffea by morphological and molecular methods. Fifteen taxa were morphologically identified among the 30 isolated. These included Phyllosticta sp., Colletotrichum sp., Daldinia sp., Diaporthe sp., Cladosporium sp., Fusarium sp.01, Fusarium sp. 02, Fusarium sp. 03, Monilinia sp., Trichoderma sp., Alternaria sp, Penicillium sp., Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus sp. and Nigrospora sp. The phylum Ascomycota was the most represented, with 14 taxa and 1 taxon (Rhizopus sp.) belonging to the phylum of Zygomycota. Molecular characterisation confirmed of the identity of these 15 taxa and those of the morphologically Unidentified (NI) mycotaxa including Colletotrichum karstii, Colletotrichum siamense, Neofusicoccum parvum, Colletotrichum siamense, Punctularia strigosozonata, Stemphylium solani, Phoma multirostrata, Calophoma complonata, Daldinia vanderguchtiae, Phoma exigua and Boremia exigua. This study allowed us to identify the endophytic fungi isolated from Mascarocoffea leaves from Madagascar.