Studies on Bud Mycoflora of Cultivated Tea Plants, Camellia sinensis(L).O.Kuntze in North East India: A Case Study-I

Abstract

Bud-associated fungi represent a component of the microbial community of tea plants, but information on their occurrence in cultivated tea buds remains limited. The present study examined the culturable bud mycoflora of two tea cultivars, TS-520 and Tinali 17, collected from Rydak Tea Estate in the Dooars region of North Bengal, India. Buds were placed aseptically on Rose Bengal Chloramphenicol agar using a modified leaf-impression approach. Five buds were used per plate with five replications for each cultivar, giving 25 buds per cultivar. Plates were incubated under laboratory conditions at 22–28°C, and fungal colonies were identified on the basis of cultural and morphological characteristics. A total of 89 colonies were recovered, comprising 45 colonies from TS-520 and 44 from Tinali 17. TS-520 yielded five fungal genera, whereas seven genera were recorded from Tinali 17. Rhizopus spp. and red-pigmented Penicillium were detected only in Tinali 17, representing 4.54% and 6.81% of its recovered colonies, respectively. Cladosporium, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium, Trichoderma, white sterile colonies and yeast forms occurred in both cultivars, although their proportional representation varied. Yeast forms and white sterile colonies constituted the largest fractions in both cultivars. The observations demonstrate cultivar-associated variation in culturable bud mycoflora and provide preliminary information for further investigation of fungal communities associated with tea buds.