The diversity of endophytic fungi in Verbascum lychnitis from industrial areas

The microbial diversity of Verbascum lychnitis community from industrial areas was investigated. The plants harbor a variety of endophytic fungi most of which belong to the Ascomycetes. The isolated fungal endophytes were identified according to ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA sequence similarity and were found to belong to 22 genera and 12 orders. The most frequently isolated genera were Diaporthe spp., Alternaria spp. and Pichia spp. An unidentified species from the Xylaria genus was isolated from V. lychnitis, which is a novel finding since most Xylaria species were reported to be solely wood-inhabiting fungi. The composition of fungal endophytes from the tailings site showed higher diversity, particularly in leaf tissues, than in non-tailings sites.