Endophytic microbiome of Boehmeria nivea and their antagonism against latent fungal pathogens in plants

BACKGROUND: Pathogenic microbes still become obstacles that can reduce the quality of plant growth, including ramie (Boehmeria nivea) plants. The study identified the microbiome and antagonistic interaction of the endophytic community from the B. nivea is necessary to improve the production of the ramie plant, especially ramie stem organs for fiber materials. RESULTS: Twenty isolates of endophytic microorganisms were obtained from the roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. They were identified using the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal (rDNA), and its morphotypes obtained 20 isolates, with a composition of 9 species of bacteria and 11 species of fungi. Besides that, the disease observations on ramie stems showed that four species of pathogenic fungi were identified as Fusarium solani isolate 3,248,941, Fusarium solani isolates colpat-359, Fusarium oxysporum isolate N-61–2, Clonostachys rosea strain B3042. The endophytic microorganism of ramie ability was tested to determine their potential to inhibit the growth of the pathogenic fungi based on the in-vivo antagonist test. The isolated bacteria were only able to inhibit the growth of F. solani, with the highest percentage of 54–55%. Three species of endophytic fungi, including Cladosporium tennissimum, Fusarium falciforme, and Penicillium citrinum, showed the best inhibition against the fungal pathogen Fusarium solani with the highest inhibitory presentation of 91–95%. Inhibitory interaction between the endophytic microbes and the ramie pathogens indicated the type of antibiosis, competition, and parasitism. CONCLUSION: The results of this study succeeded in showing the potential antifungal by endophytic fungi from ramie against the pathogens of the plant itself. P. citrinum isolate MEBP0017 showed the highest inhibition against all the pathogens of the ramie.