3.1. Isolation and Identification of Fungal Endophytes. A total
of 727 isolates of endophytic fungi belonging to 20 taxa
were obtained from the plating of 1000 tissue segments.
The relative per cent isolation was highest for isolates of
leaf samples (43%) and least for isolates of bark samples
(11%). The per cent colonization frequency of endophytes
differed for the plant parts used and is represented in Table 1.
Many isolates belonged to the genera Fusarium, Phomopsis,
and Colletotrichum which colonized more than one plant
part. Tissue specificity was observed for some endophytes.
Endophytes such as Aspergillus candidus and Volutella sp.
were isolated from fruits only, while Curvularia trifolii and
Wardomyces sp. were found to occur in seed samples and
isolates of Nectria sp. were obtained from twig samples only.
Thecomposition and abundance of the endophytes varied for
the tissues tested. The isolates of Fusarium were recovered