Nutritional requirements for growth of an endophyte: Ceratopycnidium baccharidicola

The carbon sources, nitrogen sources and vitamin requirements for the growth of Ceratopycnidium baccharidicola (an endophyte of Baccharis coridifolia) were studied. The fungus utilized several carbon sources: pectin, sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose, cellobiose, xylose, arabinose, mannitol, mannose and sorbitol. Sucrose and fructose were found to be the best carbon sources. Nitrogen sources utilized by the endophyte included: nitrates, ammonium and amino acids such as proline, asparagine and glycine. Undefined complex nitrogen sources such as soytone, tryptone, yeast extract and casamino acids supported excellent growth. In a defined medium, thiamine was the only vitamin required for growth. Under optimum conditions the vegetative growth of C. baccharidicola was enhanced six fold over its growth in glucose-asparagine medium.