Endophytic fungi from Amomum siamense

Endophytic fungi were isolated from apparently healthy organs of the wild g inger Amomum siamense Criab., including leaves, pseudostems, and rhizomes, collected from two sites in Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, Thailand. Endophy tes were relatively common with an isolate prevalence of 70%-83% at the two sites sampled in the wet and dry seasons. The endophyte assemblages from t he two sites were diverse and comprised 7 Ascomycetes and 26 mitosporic fun gi. Colletotrichum "gloeosporioides" (Penz.) Penz. & Sacc. in Penz., Glomer ella spp., xylariaceous fungi, and Phomopsis spp. were consistently dominan t as endophytes on Amomum siamense, but many rare species and mycelia steri lia were also recorded. There was no significant difference between the num ber of isolates recovered from leaves containing vein tissues and those con taining intervein tissues, independent of leaf age. Most taxa showed a pref erence for either leaf tissue or pseudostems. Two new Ascomycetes species, Gaeumannomyces amomi and Leiosphaerella amomi, were discovered from leaves and rhizomes, respectively, and four species of Pyricularia, including thre e new species, were isolated from leaves.