Diversity of Ethiopian Kale (Brassica carinata) Endophytes and their Antagonism against Colletotrichum higginsianum in vitro

Brassica carinata is an important underutilized cruciferous vegetable that has strong potential for reducing food insecurity and boosting crop production due to its drought and pest resistant qualities. The vegetable supported a total of 5128 colonies with bacterial colonies higher at 4440 while fungal colonies were 688. Bacterial colonies were isolated in high amounts at 10-1 while fungal colonies were highly recovered at 10-5. Bacterial results revealed that 37% were circular shaped while rhizoid form were lowest at 4.5% and the majority were gram positive. The Bacilli bacteria were more dominant over the cocci shaped bacteria. The roots harbored higher number of nitrogen fixing bacteria at 75% of the isolated endophytes as compared to roots and leaves. Additionally, the roots contributed 60% of the endophytes that had the ability to solubilise phosphates. Antifungal results showed that four endophytes inhibited the growth of Colletotrichum higginsianum. Fungal isolates exhibited more Fusarium species isolated but Aspergillus spp had the highest phosphorous stabilization efficiency (PSE). One Fusarium spp had the capacity to inhibit the growth of C. higginsianum