Ross Joseph

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Clore, Amy

Area of Concentration

Biology

Abstract

Fungal endophytes colonize the asymptomatic tissues of plants and form symbiotic relationships allowing enhanced stress-resistance and exchange of nutrients. Previous studies have detected endophytes in every plant surveyed, suggesting that these associations are ubiquitous in nature; however, only a small fraction of land plants have actually been screened for the presence of these organisms. In the present study, leaves of an epiphytic bromeliad native to Florida, Tillandsia recurvata L., were collected from 5 tree species on the New College of Florida campus and screened for fungal endophytes. Analytical methods included culturing, DNA extraction, PCR utilizing fungal-specific primers and Sanger DNA sequencing. Sequences obtained were assembled and aligned against the NCBI BLASTn database in order to tentatively determine sequence identity. To date, DNA samples from 15 isolates resembling endophytes have been sequenced and were found to represent numerous distinct fungal taxa, including many isolates from the class Sordariomycetes. Further analysis of these isolates may lead to the discovery of new species or novel biologically active compounds. Additionally, future analysis of the variation in endophyte communities observed from Tillandsia recurvata sampled from different host trees could allow for testing of host specificity and the means of transmission of these endophytes.

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