Primeiro relato de Juncaceicola como fungo endófito associado a Deschampsia antarctica desv.

Abstract

Endophyte fungi have been reported in several species of plants and are being used in work because they have a great biotechnological potential, therefore, researchers in the area are searching for new species in places with few explored. In order to contribute to the diversity of endophytic fungi in poorly explored sites, this study aimed to characterize phylogenetically through molecular biology techniques an endophyte fungus associated with the leaves of Deschampsia antarctica Desv. The fungus was obtained from leaf fragments from two sites on Half Moon Island, South Shetland in Antarctica. The ITS region was amplified and sequenced. With the result of the sequencing, a comparison was made using the BLAST tool and the NCBI database, with the endophyte fungus being grouped with the other fungi of the genus Juncaceicola Tennakoon, Camporesi, Phookamsak and K.D. Hyde (99% nucleotide sequence identity). The isolate used in the work showed little identity (40%) with the ITS sequences of the fungal species belonging to the genus Juncaceicola that had already been deposited in GenBank, suggesting that this isolate may be a new species discovered in Antarctica. This characterization at the genus level reports the first occurrence of a fungus of this genus being associated with the leaves of the plants in Antarctica.