Methods Isolation of endophytic fungi from T. media Plant samples including the bark pieces and leaves were collected from T. media (Shanghai, China). The samples were treated with 75% ethanol (v/v) for 1 min and 2.5% sodium hypochlorite (v/v) for 2 min, and rinsed two times in sterilized water. In order to test the effectiveness of surface

sterilization [21], sterilized samples were imprinted onto potato dextrose agar with 100 μg/l streptomycin (PDAS) in Petri dishes at 28°C for 1 week. In addition, 10 ml of the last rinsing water were centrifuged for 10 min at 5000 rpm. The supernatant was removed and added 500 μl sterilized water in the centrifugal tube; 100 μl of this volume were selleck inhibitor then plated onto PDAS. The surface sterilization

was validated because no mycelial growth occurred. The surface-disinfected small pieces (4 mm2) of inner bark and leaf segments were excised and placed on the surface of PDAS in Petri dishes, incubated at 28°C for 3–7 days to allow the growth of endophytic fungi, and periodically checked for culture BKM120 cell line purity. Pure fungal cultures of the endophytic isolates were obtained by the hyphal tip method [37]. All fungal isolates were numbered and stored in 15% (v/v) glycerol at −80°C as spores and mycelium. Identification of endophytic fungi from T. media Individual hyphal tips of various fungal isolates were subcultured onto fresh PDA medium, and incubated at 28°C for at least 2 weeks. All fungal isolates were initially identified to the genus and/or species level based on morphology of fungal colony, characteristics of fungal spore, and molecular phylogenetic analysis. The fungal isolates were inoculated

individually into 250 ml Erlenmeyer flasks containing 25 ml potato dextrose broth (PDB) medium. Cultures were incubated at 200 rpm at 28°C for 2 days and harvested by centrifugation at 12000 r/min for 10 min. LEE011 nmr Genomic DNA was extracted from 0.5-1 g chilled mycelia in liquid nitrogen using the SDS-CTAB method [38]. The fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) fragments (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA) were amplified by PCR using the universal primers ITS1 and ITS4 (Table 3). The PCR reaction mixtures (25 μl) consisted of 1 μl genomic DNA (~100 ng), 0.5 μl forward and reverse Glutamate dehydrogenase primers (20 μM), and 12.5 μl Premix Taq (TaKaRa Biotechnology Ltd., China), and 10.5 μl PCR quality water. The PCR reaction programs were pre-heating at 94°C for 3 min, 30 cycles of 94°C for 30 s, 55°C for 30 s, 72°C for 1 min, and a final extension at 72°C for 5 min. The PCR products were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis and purified using a DNA gel exaction kit (Axygen Biotechnology Ltd., China). The purified PCR product was directly sequenced using the same primers by BGI-Shanghai (Shanghai, China). Table 3 Oligonucleotide primers used in PCR screening Gene (GenBank No.) Primers Sequence (5′-3′) Amplicon length ITS1-5.