Comparison of Different Media for Isolating Endophytic Fungi from Plant Tissues of Citrus Species

Endophytic fungi play an ecological role in promoting plant growth and controlling diseases. This study compared the efficacy of different media for isolating fungal endophytes. We used potato dextrose agar (PDA), corn meal agar (CMA), water agar (WA), czapek dox agar (CDA), and sabouraud agar (SB). This study resulted in the isolation of 43 endophytic fungal isolates from healthy leaf and fruit tissues of mandarin and orange, with 69.7% of these isolates coming from leaf tissue. Morphological identification revealed these isolates belonged to Alternaria spp., Colletotrichum spp., Botryosphaeriaceae, and Trichoderma spp. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that PDA and SB were effective for isolating culturable endophytic fungi. The unweighted pair-group method of arithmetic (UPGMA) dendrogram showed that PDA was in the same group as the SB, while CDA and CMA were separated. The WA was distinct from all other media, forming an outgroup. The results of this investigation demonstrated the influence of different media on the isolation of endophyte fungi from various plant tissues of Citrus species. Future research should focus on the efficacy of plant disease of the endophyte fungi and their potential for biocontrol under field conditions.