VARIATION IN FUNGAL ENDOPHYTE POPULATIONS IN NEEDLES OF THE GENUS PINUS

Endophytic fungi were isolated from the needles of 45 species and vari eties of the genus Pinus planted in an arboretum, and the species comp osition of the endophytes were compared among the pines examined. In g eneral, Leptostroma spp. and Cenangium ferruginosum Fr. ex Fr. were do minant in the middle segment of the needle, while on the basal segment , Phialocephala sp. was more frequently isolated than the other two ta xa. Leptostroma spp. seemed to be excluded from the basal segment by P hialocephala sp. The endophytic mycobiota of pines belonging to the sa me taxonomic group was similar. The taxonomic affinities of the host p ines strongly affected the colonization patterns of the endophytes, wh ile the effects of factors such as sampling date, tree age, and locati on in the stand were much weaker.