Author(s)

Hideko Ikeda¹, Tatsuya Fukuda², Jun Yokoyama^3,4*

¹Graduate School of Science and Technology, Yamagata University, Yamagata, Japan.
²Department of Forestry, Faculty of Agriculture, Kochi University, Nankoku, Japan.
³Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Yamagata University, Yamagata, Japan.
⁴Institute for Regional Innovation, Yamagata University, Yamagata, Japan.

Holoparasitism is a special life cycle of flowering plants. All carbon resources are provided by photosynthetic host plants. A recent study revealed the presence of endophytic fungi in holoparasitic plants, but their ecological and evolutionary roles are still unknown. In this study, we examined endophytic fungi isolated from the holoparasitic plant Balanophora japonica (Balanophoraceae), collected from Kochi, Shikoku in western Japan. We isolated 23 fungal strains on inflorescences and tubers from three B. japonica plants at two locations and on one sample of the host plant (Symplocos lancifolia, Symplocaceae). Predominant isolates were Trichoderma-Hypocrea, Penicillium and Phialemonium. The first group was also predominant in the host plant. Fungal composition revealed in this study differed from the composition on B. harlandii or other root holoparasites with endophytic fungal (Rafflesia cantleyi) data. Those differences might be caused by various factors, including growth habits, location, phylogenetic position or host-parasite relationship.

Balanophoraceae, Balanophora japonica, Endophytic Fungi, Holoparasitic Plant, Symplocos lancifolia, Western Japan

Ikeda, H. , Fukuda, T. and Yokoyama, J. (2016) Endophytic Fungi Associated with a Holoparasitic Plant, Balanophora japonica (Balanophoraceae). American Journal of Plant Sciences, 7, 152-158. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2016.71016.