Endophytic Fungi from Tea Cultivars: Identification and In Vitro Antagonism Against Fusarium ambrosium, a Symbiont of Shot Hole Borer (Euwallacea fornicatus)

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_16How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Coprinellus disseminates; Diaporthe spp.; Fusarium ambrosium

Abstract

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most widely consumed beverages globally and plays a vital role in Sri Lanka’s economy. Shot Hole Borer (SHB), Euwallacea fornicatus, is a key pest that cause substantial economic damage in Sri Lankan tea. Successful colonization and brood development of SHB depend on its obligate fungal symbiont, Fusarium ambrosium (Neocosmospora ambrosia), Conventional management of SHB predominantly depends on chemical insecticides; however, their effectiveness is limited by the beetle’s cryptic behavior and emergence of insecticide resistance. Given the limitations of chemical control, alternative management strategies are urgently needed. Targeting the symbiotic fungus F. ambrosium offers a promising approach to disrupt the SHB life cycle. Due to their intimate association with host plants, fungal endophytes represent a valuable source for biological control approaches. This study aimed to isolate and identify endophytic fungi from selected tea cultivars and evaluate their antagonistic potential against F. ambrosium through dual culture assays. Among 30 isolates screened, six exhibited significant antagonistic activity, reducing fungal growth by 74.69% to 50.60%. Molecular characterization based on ITS rDNA sequences identified four isolates as Diaporthe spp. and two as Coprinellus disseminatus. These findings demonstrate that tea-associated endophytic fungi confer resistance to SHB by suppressing its fungal symbiont, offering a promising and sustainable biocontrol strategy.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - K. G. N. P. Piyasena
AU  - G. D. Sinniah
AU  - N. C. Weerakoon
AU  - P. D. S. Senanayake
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/15
TI  - Endophytic Fungi from Tea Cultivars: Identification and In Vitro Antagonism Against Fusarium ambrosium, a Symbiont of Shot Hole Borer (Euwallacea fornicatus)
BT  - Proceedings of the International Tea Symposium (InTSym100 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 280
EP  - 287
SN  - 2468-5747
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_16
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-646-3_16
ID  - Piyasena2026
ER  -