A STUDY OF FUNGAL ENDOPHYTES IN LEAVES, STEMS AND ROOTS OF GYNOXIS-OLEIFOLIA MUCHLER (COMPOSITAE) FROM ECUADOR

Endophytic fungi have been isolated from leaves, twigs and roots of Gy noxis oleifolia (Compositae) collected near Guallabamba, Ecuador. Fort y-two taxa have been isolated, of which 21 had frequencies higher than 10%. All taxa belong to genera which have already been described as e ndophytes of plants from the temperate zones and from the tropics. A f ew taxa, particularly some coelomycetes in the genera Cryptosporiopsis , Gloeosporidiella and Phomopsis, have been recorded that may be host- specific. The endophyte assemblages inhabiting a given tissue taken fr om different specimens of C. oleifolia are very similar, because the c lustering of samples is always consistent with the tissue from which t hey originate. A fungal preference for a given leaf part could not be demonstrated using this model but the frequency of colonisation of the petiole is higher than that of the other leaf parts. The biodiversity of the endophytic assemblages in Gynoxis in particular and in tropica l regions is briefly discussed.