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Pak. J. Bot., 45(1): 319-323, 2013.

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A NEW ENDOPHYTIC ASCOMYCETE ASSOCIATED WITH THE MEDICINAL PLANT, ACHYRANTHES BIDENTATA BLUME (AMARANTHACEAE)

BING-DA SUN^1,2#, AMANDA-JUAN CHEN^1#, WEI-WEI GAO^1*, YU-GUANG ZHOU², M. USMAN GHAZANFAR³ AND WAQAS WAKIL⁴

Abstract: During a survey of the endophytic fungi associated with the Chinese traditional medicinal plant Achyranthes bidentata Blume (Amaranthaceae), a new fungus was isolated from the stem of this plant. Cultures of this fungus on PDA form grey floccose colony with a reddish-brown reverse and mycelium that develops mostly right-angled branches and form rope-like strands and coils. This endophytic fungus does not form reproductive structures on artificial media but can produce conidiomata on host leaves. Based on morphological and DNA sequence analyses, this fungus is proposed to be a new member of the ascomycete genus, Edenia and the name E. achyranthi is introduced.

¹Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193，P.R. China; ²Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, P.R. China; ³Department of Plant Pathology, University College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha 40100; ⁴Department of Agri. Entomology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan

^*Corresponding author, e-mail address: wwgao411@sina.com

^#These authors contributed equally to this study