Molecular and morphological identification of endophytic fungi isolated from aerial parts of yew tree

Plants are important parts of our diet; which, in addition to the primary metabolites, also produce a wide range of secondary metabolites. Endophytic fungi are among these microorganisms that not only do not cause infection and disease in the host plant but also play a role in the production or increase of some secondary metabolites and defense responses to biotic and abiotic stresses in the plant. Yew is one of the native trees of Iran and has medicinal value and has important fungal endophytes. Isolation and characterization of endophytic fungi in this plant can be important in order to discover new species with the potential to produce taxol. This study was carried out to isolate and identify molecularly and morphologically some fungal endophytes in the laboratory. In order to investigate the presence of ITS gene in fungi, ITS5 and ITS4 specific primers were used. 81 endophytic fungi were extracted from yew seedlings and eight samples were selected for molecular tests. The results of examining the presence of the ITS showed that all the extracted fungi gave a band in the desired region. Based on molecular and morphological studies, eight strains of identified endophytic fungi belonged to the genera Purpureocillium, Akanthomyces, Fusarium, Phomopsis and Colletotrichum. Therefore, the identification of more endophytic species can help to discover useful microorganisms in the production of secondary metabolites such as taxol.