Diversity of endophytic mycobiota in Fortunearia sinensis

Fortunearia sinensis is an endemic species of arbor to China. The diversity of endophytic fungi of F. sinensis was preliminarily studied in order to understand the composition and change of mycobiota. 1436 strains of endophytic fungi were isolated from healthy laminae, petioles and twigs of F. sinensis located in Baohua mountain of Jiangsu province separately in spring and autumn. The isolation rate amounted to 53%. The isolates were identified and classified into 33 genera based on the morphological characters and ITS sequences. Alternaria, Fusarium and Pestalotiopsis were three dominant genera with the relative abundance of 21.52%, 19.64% and 13.16%, respectively. 498 isolates belonging to 27 genera of endophytic fungi were obtained from tested petiole samples of F. sinensis. The Shannon–Wiener index and Margalef index of endophytic fungi in the petiole were respectively 2.77 and 2.90 which were larger than those in the lamina and twig. 1076 isolates belonging to 27 genera of endophytic fungi were obtained in tissue samples of F. sinensis collected in autumn. Endophytic fungi of F. sinensis in autumn with the Shannon–Wiener index of 2.69 and Margalef index of 2.58 were more diverse than in spring.