Endophytes are microbes that live in plant tissues without causing any damage to the host plants. The present study aimed to isolate and identify fungal endophytes associated with healthy chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) plants. Healthy plants were collected from the experimental field of the Department of Plant Pathology, College of Agriculture, Latur. Plant tissues (roots, stems, and leaves) were surface sterilized to eliminate surface microorganisms and plated on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) for fungal growth. A total of ten fungal endophytes were successfully isolated five from roots two from stems and three from leaves. Morphological and cultural characteristics such as colony color, texture, growth pattern, and microscopic features including conidial structure, shape, and septation were used for identification with reference to standard mycological keys. The identified fungal endophytes included Trichoderma harzianum, Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, Macrophomina phaseolina, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Alternaria solani, Rhizopus sp. and Colletotrichum capsici. The diversity of these endophytes tests a complex microbial community within chilli tissues that may contribute to plant health and resilience. Fungi isolated as endophytes from chilli (Cv. Pusa Jawala) were tested in order to ascertain whether they are capable of causing disease symptoms in healthy chilli stem, root and leaves. The pathogenicity test of fungal endophytes was carried out by pin prick method (for stem endophytes), spore suspension method (for leaf endophytes), root or soil drenching method (for root endophytes). No fungal species of endophytic fungi were able to cause any diseased symptoms on chilli plant and were observed to remain healthy.
Gitte et al. (Wed,) studied this question.