Isolation of an endophytic fungus Colletotrichum sp. and study of its plant growth promoting traits

Abstract

Some fungi grow within plant parts and live as endosymbiont without causing apparent disease and enhance host growth, carrying defense response, nutrient acquisition, decrease biotic and abiotic stress, used as biofertilizer, also great role in medicine industry, known as endophytic fungi. Here five different fungi strains have been isolated from different plant parts of Plumbago zeylanica Linn. from the Departmental garden of Botany department of Burdwan university. These fungi strains show different plant growth traits like IAA production, Nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, production of ammonia, polysaccharide, HCN, organic acid. These strains also can tolerate from different concentrations of salt. Among all fungal strains SL4 was identified as Colletotrichum sp. by 18S rRNA gene sequencing and gave the best result in most of the PGP traits of the fungal strains. Considering all these properties, SL4 strain can be used in agricultural field for cultivation of crops or in different nurseries as phytostimulator as well as biofertilizer.