First Record of Endophytic Fungi “Trichoderma asperellum” on Oryza sativa in Iraq

Abstract

Abstract The detection of Trichoderma spp. is a great challenge as the attention in the past four decades has been focused on the endophytic fungi in terms of agricultural benefit mainly. Therefore, the aim of current study emphasized on the extent of presence and spread of Trichoderma asperellum on rice in Iraq. The activity of isolated fungi was studied with diagnosing it morphologically and molecularly. Results showed that the Tr5 isolate was exceeded in the number of live units and gave 2.6 × 108 CFU.g-1 as well as the highest rate of germination reached 100%. Based on the microscopic and molecular identification, the Tr5 isolate was diagnosed as Trichoderma asperellum which was registered in GenBank under the accession number OQ378987. The genetic affinity in the phylogenetic tree indicated that Tr5 isolate was segregated into unique clade as the percentage of genetic compatibility reached 91% with two isolates from India and China. This research will provide the basis for future studies within biology and ecology of endophytic fungi including T. asperellum in Iraq.