Fungal Endophytes of Boswellia Serrata Roxb. (Burseraceae), a Medicinal Tree Species

Fungal endophytes were isolated from Boswellia serrata, an ethnopharmacologically important tree species used in ayurvedic medicines to treat inflammation.Isolations were made from symptomless bark, inner bark, twig and leaf samples collected from Chamundi Hills, Mysore.A total of 530 isolates were recovered from 3000 tissue fragments of B. serrata.Of these isolates, 522 sporulated and belonged to 17 genera based on morphological characteristics.Among the 17 genera, mitosporic fungi were dominant.Myrothecium verrucaria (10.37%) was the dominant species followed by Phoma spp.(9.24%).High colonization rates of endophytic fungi were found in twigs followed by inner bark, bark and leaf.