ENDOPHYTIC ASCOMYCETES AND DEUTEROMYCETES IN ROOTS OF PINUS-SYLVESTRIS

Endophytic fungi were isolated from long roots collected from three mature trees of P. sylvestris growing in two sites in Devon. Less than forty species of endophytes were isolated. Among them, only eleven were recorded from more than one tree or in colonization frequencies higher than 40%. Most species are predominantly bark colonizers, but some are able to penetrate deep into the host tissue. Only Chaetomium cochliodes appears to colonize preferentially the root xylem. Cylindrocarpon destructans, the major colonizer of root bark and xylem in Alnus glutinosa, has been recorded only in Pinus roots from the Dartmoor National Park. This study suggests that root endophyte communities may not be host specific but are probably very much influenced by the environment.