Biochemical Characterization of Fungus Isolated during Propagation of .

Background: () is a multipurpose bamboo species, which is native of the Indian subcontinent. is regarded as one of the best species for scaffolding and building purposes because of its strong culm. Other uses include paper pulp, handicrafts, and products of the wood chip industry. Due to these various uses in industries, this species has been identified as one of the priority bamboos by the National Bamboo Mission.

Objective: This study is designed to analyze the identification of fungus and develop the strategy to eliminate the contamination during establishment of through nodal part. Fungus contamination is a problem which is encountered during establishment of cultures.

Materials And Methods: In the present study, fungus contamination from cultured plant has been isolated and subjected to partial sequence analysis of the 18S rRNA gene to identify the fungus strain. Experiments were designed to develop a strategy for removal of the fungus contamination with the help of antifungal compounds and commercial antimicrobial supplement supplied by HiMedia.

Results: was identified as endophytic fungus. It was observed that antimicrobial supplement at concentration of 500 μl/l was more effective concentration to remove fungus contamination and not showed any detrimental effect on growth parameters of shoot.

Conclusion: This experiment would help in identification and to get rid of fungal contamination and improve the establishment of cultures for large-scale propagation.

Summary: Endogenous fungus was isolated from contaminated culture of , and it was identified as and submitted to NCBI under accession no. KP274872. The endophytic fungus had shown substantial production of amylase, cellulase, and protease media. Gibberellic acid (GA) production by was maximum on the 7 day on inoculation. : , : , PDA: Potato dextrose agar, PCR: Polymerase chain reaction, MS: Murashige and Skoog's, BAP: 6-Benzylaminopurine, ITS1/4: Internal transcribed spacer region 1/4, GA: Gibberellic acid.