Endophytic and epiphytic metabarcoding reveals fungal communities on cashew phyllosphere in Kenya.

ABSTRACT: Plants intimately coexist with diverse taxonomically structured microbial communities that influence host health and productivity. The coexistence of plant microbes in the phyllosphere benefits biodiversity maintenance, ecosystem function, and community stability. However, differences in community composition and network structures of phyllosphere epiphytic and endophytic fungi are widely unknown. Using Illumina Miseq sequencing of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 28S rRNA gene amplicons, we characterised the epiphytic and endophytic fungal communities associated with cashew phyllosphere (leaf, flower and fruit) from Kwale, Kilifi and Lamu counties in Kenya. The ITS and 28S rRNA gene sequences were clustered into 267 and 108 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at 97% sequence similarit

SUBMITTER: Mukhebi DW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11253924 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature