Abstracto

Population Variance and Diversity of Endophytic Fungi in Soybean (Glycine max (L) Merril)/

JM Dalal, and NS Kulkarni

Present investigation was carried out to study variation in endophytic fungal population colonizing soybean. Endophytic population was assessed at different growth stages of soybean (C.V. JS-335) viz., vegetative and reproductive stages. A 182 (28.88 %) isolates were obtained from vegetative growth stages (V1-V5) and 448 (71.11 %) from reproductive growth stages. As plant grows the endophytic population increases progressively however, at the onset of reproductive stages viz., R1-R8 the endophytic population starts to decrease and attains a stable value at R8 stage. The maximum endophytic colonization was recorded found at V5 stage (25.00%) and R3 stages (37.03%) at which the plant attains maturity. Endophytic fungal isolates belonged to 07 genera viz; Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Colletotrichum, Fusarium, Penicillium and Rhizoctonia.Our investigation provides a valuable insight in understanding of endophytic microorganisms in their unique ecological habitat.