Abstract

Endophytic fungi were isolated from leaves of the medicinal plant, Indigofera suffruticosa collected at the Atlantic Coastal Forest and tropical dry forest (Caatinga), Pernambuco, Brazil, during the dry and rainy seasons. A total of 107 fungal isolates, representing nine fungal taxa, were obtained and classified as Ascomycota, among them Colletotrichum gloeosporioides with relative frequency (fr) 27.1% and Pseudocochliobolus pallescens with fr 16.82% were the most frequent. Curvularia australiensis and Chaetomella raphigera were isolated only in Caatinga during rainy and dry seasons, respectively, and for the first time they were isolated from a Caatinga plant. Lasiodiplodia theobromae was found only in Atlantic Coastal Forest in dry season, and according to Simpson (D') and Shannon-Wiener (H') indices fungal diversity were considered statistically significant in this forest. Besides, a greater similarity was observed between fungi isolated in Atlantic Coastal Forest and Caatinga in the dry season, suggesting the predominance of seasonality rather than geographical factor. This study is the first report on endophytes fungi from I. suffruticosa, and the results represent an important basis for further studies in the fields of ecology and biotechnology, since these endophytic fungi may be important source for future study in searching for new natural compounds with biological activities.

Key words: Ascomycota, Caatinga, endophytic mycobiota, fungal diversity, Indigofera suffruticosa, seasonal predominance.