The Influence of Cone Age and Urbanisation on the Diversity and Community Composition of Culturable Seed Fungal Endophytes within Native Australian L.f. subsp. .

Seed fungal endophytes play a crucial role in assisting the overall health and success of their host plant; however, little is known about the factors that influence the diversity and composition of these endophytes, particularly with respect to how they change over time and within urban environments. Using culturing techniques, morphological analyses, and Sanger sequencing, we identified the culturable seed fungal endophytes of at two urban and two natural sites in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. A total of 27 Operational Taxonomic Units were obtained from 1200 seeds.