Isolation and identification of endophytic fungusIsolation of the endophytic fungus from plant leaves was carried out as described by Nwobodo et al. (2020b). Briefly, the leaves were washed thoroughly in running tap water, and then cut into small fragments (about 1 cm2). The leaf fragments were surface sterilized by immersion in 2% sodium hypochlorite solution for 2 min., 70% ethanol for 2 min., before a final rinse in sterile water for 5 min. These leaf fragments were transferred into malt extract agar (MEA) plates, supplemented with chloramphenicol (500 mg/L). The Petri plates were then incubated at 27 °C for 7 days. Hyphal tips of fungal colonies emerging from the leaf segments were sub-cultured on fresh MEA plates, and then purified using single spore technique