Identification and evaluation of enzymatic ability of fungal endophytes from Citrofortunella microcarpa (Bunge) Wijnands
RDC Reyes
Abstract
Citrofortunella microcarpa locally known as "kalamansi" belongs to the family Rutaceae is one of the most important marketable fruit crops grown in the Philippines. Aside from being a fruit crop, the plant also houses various endophytic microorganisms which exhibit various symbiotic relationships. Thus, this study isolated fungal endophytes from C. microcarpa stem and leaves and were identified culturally and morphologically. The identities of the fungal species were confirmed using ITS1 and ITS4 sequences. The identified fungal endophytes were tested for their ability to produce fungal enzymes such as amylase, cellulase, laccase and protease. Totally 11 fungal endophytes were isolated from stem and leaves of C. microcarpa namely, Colletotrichum fructicola, Colletorichum gloeosporioides, Colletotrichum siamense, Fusarium oxysporum, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Nigrospora oryzae, Nigrospora rubi, Nodulisporium indicum, Phomopsis azadirachtae, Phyllosticta capitalensis, and an unidentified species under the Order Pleosporales. All the identified endophytic fungal species showed production of amylase. For the cellulose assay, four species namely L. theobromae, N. oryzae, C. gloeosporioides, and the unidentified species had potential for cellulose degradation. Fusarium oxysporum and P. azadirachtae were found to be producers of laccase. Meanwhile, only the unidentified species showed extracellular protease activity.