International Journal of Biology Research 17 International Journal of Biology Research ISSN: 2455-6548, Impact Factor: RJIF 5.22 www.biologyjournal.in Volume 2; Issue 2; April 2017; Page No. 17-19 Seasonal variation of leaf surface mycoflora of some ornamental plants from Shendra Midc Area, Aurangabad, Maharashtra Satpute SB, Dhotre ST, Vanmare DJ Department of Botany, Vivekanand Arts, Sardar Dalip Singh Commerce and Science College, Samarth Nagar, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India Abstract The present investigation was carried out during the months October 2015 to September 2016 to observe the leaf surface mycoflora of ornamental plants from Shendra MIDC area, Aurangabad (MS). Leaf surface mycoflora were studied season wise that is winter, summer and rainy. Three plants were selected viz. Hibiscus rosa-sinesis L., Acalypha wilkesiana-kona Gold and Caesalpinia pulcherima (red). Leaf samples were collected in different seasons and mycoflora were isolated and pure cultures were maintained on Potato dextrose agar. Identification of mycoflora was done by morphological characters and microscopic observations. During this investigation 18 fungal species were recorded. Average percentage frequency of A. niger were higher in all three plants and lower average percentage frequency were observed in R. bataticola from Hibiscus rosa-sinesis L., Trichoderma from Acalypha wilkesiana-kona Gold and R. macrophomina from Caesalpinia pulcherima (red). Higest mycoflora were recorded during rainy season followed by winter and summer seasons in decreasing order. Keywords: Seasonal variation, Mycoflora, A. niger, R. bataticola, Trichoderma, ornamental plants 1. Introduction Leaf surface mycoflora of ornamental plant from industrial area have been poorly studied as compared to endophytes, saprobes and pathogenic fungi. Numerous investigation carried out on the fungus flora of leaf surface of several plants growing in garden or cultivated in many parts of the world by several researchers’ (A. Eicker 1976, A.H.M. EI - Said. 2001, H. M. Abdel-Fattah et al. 1977, Nagaraja T. G. 1991, Sharma P. D. 1974, S. I. I. Abdel-Hafez 1985) [1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9] . They were reported the fungi from leaf surfaces and observed that they are basically similar on the two types of media and the most common fungi were Alternaria, Aspergillus, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Cochliobolus, Curvularia, Gibberella, Memnoniella, Mycosphaerella, Setosphaeria and Stachybotrys. The spores present in air are inhaled by various living beings like human beings, animals, birds, and also they settled on the plant surfaces, where they germinate and produce mycelia or they may produce toxins which are allergic in nature. Sometimes they cause diseases of incurable forms to living beings. These fungal spores act as allergens to human beings and also pollute the air. Many physical, chemical and biological factors bring out causative changes in composition of aero-mycoflora of an area and different fungal species are restricted to that of particular area with specific environmental conditions (Verma K. S. 1990).The airborne fungal spores and their concentration vary from place to place. To view this type of study in an industrial area, the present investigation was undertaken. To view such causal organism deposited on leaf surfaces, the experimental work was undertaken to identify the mycoflora from leaf surface of an industrial area. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1 sample collection The leaves of Hibiscus rosa-sinesis, Acalypha wilkesiana- kona Gold and Caesalpinia pulcherima. were collected in three different seasons in sterile zip- lock bags from Shendra MIDC area Aurangabad (MS). 2.2 isolation of leaf surface mycoflora Leaf wash and leaf print method was used for isolation of mycoflora. Dorsal and ventral leaf impressions were taken on PDA medium. Collected leaves samples were cuts and about 10 gm of sample stir into 100 ml distilled water in a conical flask. This liquid sample was used for isolation of fungus. All the Petri dishes were incubated at room temperature 27 0 C ± 3 0 C for one week. The fungi growing out from the sample were sub cultured on fresh PDA medium to get pure culture and stored in slants. 2.3 Identification of leaf surface mycoflora The leaf surface mycoflora were identified on the basis of morphological and microscopic observations. 3. Result and Discussion. During the present investigation Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus carbonarious, Aspergillus nidulus, Cladosporium oxysporum, Rhizopus, Fusarium roseum, Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia bataticola, Rhizoctonia macrophomina, Curvularia lunata, Penicillium, Torula, Phytophthora rubra, Trichoderma and Mycogone mycoflora were recorded on leaves of three ornamental plants from Shendra MIDC, Aurangabad (MS) in different seasons. In Hibiscus rosa-sinesis L. percentage frequency of A. niger was maximum i.e. 19.84 % in leaf wash and 19.30 % in leaf print