The diversity of manglicolous fungi from NYPA fruticans in Pulau Duyong, Terengganu

Abstract

Several studies have been carried out on the diversity of fungi on Nypa fruticans from mangrove habitats in Malaysia especially at the West-Coast but fewer studies at the EastCoast of Malaysia. Therefore, the diversity of fungi associated with N fruticans in Pulau Duyong, Terengganu has been investigated. A total of 38 fungal species were successfully isolated by using direct culture technique with 26 of them were identified which include 18 Ascomycetes, four Basidiomycetes, three Deuteromycetes, and only one Zygomycete. Distributions of fungi on palm structures including fresh parts and litter parts of trunks, rachides and leaves were examined. The results showed that most of the fungi occurred on fresh parts and litter parts of Nypa palm's rachides with 24 species, followed by fresh parts and litter parts of leaves and trunks with 17 species and 16 species, respectively. Site 1 shows the highest number of fungi species occurred with 22 species, followed by Site 2 with 20 species and Site 3 with 11 species. Factors contributing to low diversity of fungi recorded in Site 3 compared to the other sites were discussed. The diversity of fungi on various palm parts was also discussed. ShannonWeiner Diversity Index shows that Site 1 is the most diverse compared to Site 2 and Site 3 while Kruskal-Wallis Test proved that the fungal abundance are not selective to certain substrate but scattered randomly. Fungi that were successfully isolated can be used further in the investigation of possible bioactive compounds produced by these orgamsms.