Species Composition and Ecological Roles of Mycobiota in Selected Medicinal Plants of Azerbaijan

Abstract

About 30 species of medicinal and aromatic plants included in the flora of Azerbaijan have been studied for their mycobiota and the phytotoxic activity of the fungal species involved in their formation. It became clear that 79 fungal species were involved in the formation of the mycobiota of the studied plants, and they, in addition to participating in the formation of the mycobiota of the studied plants in various combinations, also differ from each other in terms of plant-fungal relationships and phytotoxic activity. So, this varies depending on the plant; for example, while one species participates in the formation of the mycobiota of some plants (Mentha piperita), in another (Trifolium pratense), it constitutes 17 species. Of the recorded fungi, 18 were identified as biotrophs, 26 as hemibiotrophs, 16 as necrotrophs, 10 as endophytes, and the remaining 9 species were of unknown status. Thus, unlike fungi from the genus Alternaria (A.alternata) and Fusarium (F.gibbosum, F. oxysporium, F.solani and F.verticillioides), which have the highest phytotoxic activity (reduction in the germination capacity of plant seeds to 40.5-60.0%), this phytotoxic activity is not generally observed in fungi from the genus Trichoderma (Trichoderma asperellum, T.citrinoviride, T.hamatum, T.harzianum, T.koningii and T.viridii), and some of them, especially those identified by molecular-genetic methods as Trichoderma citrinoviride AEF-2024 and T. harzianum AEF-2024, show significant stimulation. In this case, the germination capacity of plant seeds increases to 2.5-13.6%.