Phylloplane as Fungi Habitat

Abstract

As currently shown, the phylloplane of different plants is actively colonized by yeasts and filamentous fungi of different taxonomic groups. The features of the leaf as a microhabitat are low humidity, susceptibility to mechanical effects of rain and wind, lack of nutrients on the surface, and high solar insolation, which causes the allocation of epiphytic fungi as a separate ecological group. Although the data vary from plant to plant, in general, it can be said that basidial yeasts and such filamentous fungi as Alternaria, Epicoccum, Cladosporium, Phoma, and Trichoderma are most commonly found on plant surfaces. The biological cycle of epiphytic fungi has not yet been studied completely, but it is assumed that it begins with the specific adhesion of the spore on the surface, followed by the formation of biofilms or so-called “aggregates” that combine bacteria, yeast, and filamentous fungi, and ends with the formation of spores either on the surface of a living plant or on dead and decaying leaves.