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T. S. Suryanarayanan , K. Rajagopal

Abstract

The periderm tissue of ten tree species growing in a dry deciduous forest and a montane evergreen forest of the Western Ghats was sampled for the presence of filamentous fungi (phellophytes). These trees, belonging to six families, yielded a total of 963 phellophyte isolates that could be grouped in to 36 species. Of these, four were Ascomycetes, one belonged to Coelomycetes, and eleven were Hyphomycetes. The rest were sterile mycelial forms. Alternaria alternata and a Fusarium sp. (49) could be isolated from more number of tree species. Some phellophytes were unique to certain tree species. The mean density of colonisation was maximum for the bark of Rhododendron arboreum. Twenty three isolates of phellophytes occurred as endophytes in living leaf tissues of the trees.

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T. S. Suryanarayanan ¹, Venkat Gopalan ², Dinkar Sahal ³, Kaustuv Sanyal ⁴

Affiliations
1 Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Chennai 600 004,, IN
2 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, US
3 Malaria Research Laboratory, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110 067, IN
4 Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bengaluru 560 064, IN

Abstract

Global conservation activities of animals and plants to protect endangered species are laudable. Similarly, various national and international bodies have recognized the value of preserving different types of microbes, the ‘hidden-constituents’ that are present in all habitats. However, conservation of microbial biodiversity has generally not been a priority in the world. We present a roadmap for creating a national genetic resource for fungi, whose diversity reflects their remarkable fitness for the rich and varied habitats and environments in India. In addition to offering fine prospects for research-based higher education, this national asset will accelerate technology development and the bioeconomy.

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T. S. Suryanarayanan , R. Uma Shaanker

Abstract

No Abstract.

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N. Thirunavukkarasu ¹, Ben Jahnes ², Arthur Broadstock ³, M. B. Govinda Rajulu ⁴, T. S. Murali ⁵, Venkat Gopalan ², T. S. Suryanarayanan ⁴

Affiliations
1 Department of Botany, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Chennai 600 004, IN
2 Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, US
3 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, US
4 Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Chennai 600 004, IN
5 Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Manipal University, Manipal 576 104, IN

Abstract

Marine-derived fungi surviving as symptomless endophytes in seaweeds and seagrasses were screened for production of xylan-degrading enzymes. Of the eight endophyte isolates obtained from five different seagrasses and another eight from six different marine algae, half of them exhibited xylanase activity in an agar plate assay. Further examination of these lead candidates using spectrophotometric assays revealed that Trichoderma harzianum, endophytic in the brown alga Sargassum wightii, had the maximum secreted xylanase and xylosidase activity. Moreover, this fungus could grow in NaCl-containing media (up to 1.2 M NaCl), and inclusion of 0.26 M NaCl in the media elicited a two- and three-fold increase in extracellular xylanase and xylosidase activity respectively. These findings highlight the potential of prospecting marine derived fungal endophytes to identify novel cell-wall degrading enzymes of value to the biofuel industry.

Keywords

Biomass Deconstruction, Marine-Derived Fungi, Trichoderma harzianum, Xylan-Degrading Enzymes.

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T. S. Suryanarayanan ¹, Venkat Gopalan ²

Affiliations
1 Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Chennai 600 004, IN
2 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Center for RNA Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, US

Abstract

To address the challenging task of identifying, obtaining and cataloging the different microbes in a country with wide-ranging environments and habitats, we present a crowdsourcing model. With fungi as the prototype, we discuss approaches for rapid collection and identification of strains from environments and habitats that might lead to novel genes of industrial importance. Also, we expect the use of easy culture preservation methods to promote colleges as mini culture-collection centres and serve as the initial focal point in a national research initiative. Our model envisions the concerted involvement of undergraduate students, faculty, industries, national laboratories and culture- collection repositories to rapidly build a large assemblage of rare fungal strains and enhance the biodiversity resource of a country.

Keywords

Biodiversity, Crowdsourcing Model, Fungi, Microbial Culture.

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T. S. Suryanarayanan ¹, P. T. Devarajan ², K. P. Girivasan ³, M. B. Govindarajulu ¹, V. Kumaresan ⁴, T. S. Murali ⁵, T. Rajamani ⁶, N. Thirunavukkarasu ⁶, G. Venkatesan ⁷

Affiliations
1 Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology, RKM Vidyapith, Chennai 600 004, IN
2 Department of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology, Presidency College, Chennai 600 005, IN
3 Department of Botany, Government Arts College for Men, Nandanam, Chennai 600 035, IN
4 Department of Botany, Kanchi Mamunivar Centre for Post Graduate Studies, Puducherry 605 008, IN
5 Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576 104, IN
6 PG & Research Department of Botany, RKM Vivekananda College, Chennai 600 004, IN
7 Department of Botany, Mannai Rajagopalaswamy Government Arts College, Thanjavur 614 001, IN

Abstract

Mature leaves of 224 angiosperm plant species belonging to 60 families and growing in Andaman Islands, and the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were sampled for the presence of endophytic fungi. Fungal genera such as Alternaria, Arthrinium, Aureobasidium, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Glomerella/ Colletotrichum, Drechslera, Fusarium, Fusicoccum, Lasiodiplodia, Paecilomyces, Pestalotiopsis, Phoma, Diaporthe/Phomopsis, Guignardia/Phyllosticta, Sporormiella and Xylaria showed an isolation frequency of 5% or more. Species of Colletotrichum, Phyllosticta, Phomopsis and Xylaria occurred as endophytes in the leaves of many plant hosts including those that were taxonomically not closely related. The need to address the broad host range of some genera of fungal endophytes is discussed.

Keywords

Diversity, Foliar Endophytes, Fungal Endophytes, Mutualism.

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S. Tangjang ¹, M. Sudhakara Reddy ², T. S. Suryanarayanan ³, Tapi Taka ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Botany, Rajiv Gandhi University, Rono Hills 791 112, IN
2 Department of Biotechnology, Thapar University, Patiala 147 004, IN
3 Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Chennai 600 004,, IN

Abstract

Arunachal Pradesh, the largest of the northeastern states of India, with its many forest types¹ and large forest cover (80.43%)² supports a rich biodiversity of plants and animals. It is considered as one of the 200 biologically valuable ecoregions of the world³. However, the phytopathogenic fungal diversity of this eastern Himalayan state has not been explored to any extent. Here we report the occurrence of the culm rust fungus on a bamboo species from Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh.

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T. S. Suryanarayanan ¹, D. L. Hawksworth ²

Affiliations
1 Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology, RKM Vidyapith, Chennai 600 004, IN
2 Department of Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3DS, GB

Abstract

The evolution and spread of resistance among pathogenic microbes to different antibiotics currently in use is a global health problem. Attempts are being made to tackle this major health burden by involving policy makers, scientists, healthcare professionals, the general public and industry. Several strategies, including improvement of prescribing practices, use of combination therapies and synthetic antibiotics, and development of species-specific antibiotics have been suggested to retard the evolution of drug resistance. However, most of the new antibiotic molecules which are being prepared to be marketed are only modifications of existing ones, thus lacking novelty in their mechanism of action or target sites. It is reasonable to expect that the introduction of totally new antibiotics would delay the evolution of drug resistance. In this context, the filamentous fungi are a promising source of novel antibiotics. Their diverse biochemical pathways, the range of ecological niches they occupy, and that 8% or less of the 2.2–3.8 million estimated fungal species are known, underscore the now urgent need to screen them for novel antibiotics.

Keywords

Drug Resistance, Filamentous Fungi, Novel Antibiotics, Pathogenic Microbes.

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T. S. Suryanarayanan ¹, Karaba N. Nataraja ²

Affiliations
1 Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Chennai 600 004, IN
2 Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bengaluru 560 065, IN

Abstract

A symposium on endophytes and their applications in agriculture was held recently. The subject of the symposium is of immediate relevance to crop production considering the emerging fact that the performance of plants and their response to abiotic and biotic stresses are controlled not only by the plant genome but also by its microbiome, which includes the endophytes. To the best of our knowledge, a symposium exclusively devoted to the application of endophytes in agriculture has not been organized in the country till now.

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T. S. Suryanarayanan ¹

Affiliations
1 Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Chennai 600 004, IN

Abstract

Our thirty years of research at Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology (VINSTROM) on fungal endophytes of terrestrial and aquatic plants have yielded many interesting insights into this ecological group of fungi, a constituent of the plant microbiome. Having pioneered the study of fungal endophytes in India, we have established a culture collection of these fungi in VINSTROM. It now has about 1700 fungal endophyte isolates obtained from plants of different ecosystems in different parts of India. Endophytes produce an extraordinary array of bioactive compounds, novel industrial enzymes and enhance the fitness of the plants they colonize by elevating their tolerance to abiotic and biotic stressors. Considering such desirable traits of fungal endophytes, VINSTROM’s culture collection is a unique repository that needs to be explored for the technological use of endophytes.

Keywords

Bioprospecting, Bioactive Compounds, Culture Collection, Industrial Enzymes.

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T. S. Suryanarayanan ¹, J. P. Ravishankar ¹, V. Muruganandam ¹

Affiliations
1 Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004, IN

Abstract

During the last few decades, advances in biology have motivated inventions in the form of bioinspired solutions. Such advances have resulted from the use of inter-disciplinary approaches to complex problems. Because of the specialized nature of tackling research problems, these scientific and technological developments have required collaborations with schools of different specialities. We emphasize the importance of such collaborations using as an example of our success with a small research programme in a teaching college, and to stress that the sum is greater than the parts in these joint global endeavours.

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M. B. Govinda Rajulu ¹, T. Rajamani ¹, T. S. Murali ², T. S. Suryanarayanan ¹, Dairick Minj ³

Affiliations
1 Vivekananda Institute of Tropical Mycology, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyapith, Chennai 600 004, India, IN
2 Department of Biotechnology, Manipal School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal 576 104, India, IN
3 Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkeeya Mahavidyalaya College, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 744 101, India, IN

Abstract

Seventeen seaweed species (two green algae, nine brown algae and six red algae) of the Andaman Islands, India, were studied for their culturable fungal endophyte assemblage. A total of 796 endophytic isolates (67 species of fungi belonging to 22 genera and 10 sterile forms) were recovered from the 17 seaweeds. All the fungi were marine-derived forms and many belonged to Eurotio­mycetes and Sordariomycetes of the Ascomycota group. More species of Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium and Trichoderma were present as endophytes. While most endophytic species recovered were present in low frequency, some fungi like Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus sp. 1, Nodulisporium sp., Pestalotiopsis sp., Trichoderma yunnanense and Xylaria sp. 1 exhibited more than 40% frequency of colonization. Apart from yielding the maximum number of endophytic isolates, different Trichoderma species showed the highest colonization frequency in 11 of the 17 seaweeds. The results of this study indicate that fungi belonging to Eurotiomycetes which occur in low frequency as endophytes in terrestrial plants represent a significant percentage in the seaweeds and that the environment might have a more critical role than host specificity in determining the endophyte community of seaweed mycobiome

Keywords

Algal endophytes, eurotiomycetes, marine algae, Sordariomycetes, Trichoderma.

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