Fungal Endophytes Isolated from Needle Leaves of Three Coniferous Species on Mt. Seodae of Korea

We investigated endophytic fungi diversity of two Pinaceae species (Pinus densiflora, Pinus rigida) and one Cupressaceae species (Juniperus rigida) on Mt. Seodae, Korea. In total, 34 isolates were obtained from 19 host plants and identified according to internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. As a result, they were placed in 13 taxa. Among them, 52.9% belonged to Leotiomycetes, 32.3% belonged to Sordariomycetes, 5.8% belonged to Agaricomycetes, and 3.0% for isolates belonged to either Eurotiomycetes, Dothideomycetes or Ustilaginomycetes. In particular, Lophodermium growing in pine would be an especially important instance of biodiversity for endophytes, suggesting that further study examining its ecological function in the environment is critical.