Biodiversity of endophytic fungi in different leaf ages of Calotropis procera and their antimicrobial activity T.L. NASCIMENTO a,b, *, Y. OKI c , D.M.M. LIMA a,b , J.S. ALMEIDA-CORTEZ d , G. Wilson FERNANDES e , C.M. SOUZA-MOTTA a,b a Micoteca URM Culture Collection (WDCM 604), Brazil b Programa de P os-Graduac ¸ ~ ao em Biologia de Fungos, Departamento de Micologia, CCB, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Professor Nelson Chaves, s/n, Cidade Universit aria, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil c Ecologia Evolutiva & Biodiversidade/DBG, ICB/Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CP 486, 30161-970 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil d Laborat orio de Ecologia Aplicada e Fitoqu  ımica, Departamento de Bot^ anica, CCB, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, s/n, Cidade Universit aria, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil e Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA USA article info Article history: Received 29 October 2013 Revision received 15 October 2014 Accepted 22 October 2014 Available online Corresponding editor: James White Jr Keywords: Antimicrobial potential Invasive species Medicinal plants Plant bioprospecting Plant development Plant ontogeny abstract Calotropis procera has many important medicinal properties with proven pharmacological potential. Some of these properties may be mediated by its fungal endophytes. This study analyzed, for the first time, the community of endophytic fungi of C. procera outside its region of origin. A total of 156 fungal isolates distributed across 19 taxa were obtained from 468 fragments of C. procera leaves at different stages of maturation. The rate of endophyte colonization increased with the leaf age/development. The dominant species of endophytic fungi of C. procera introduced in Northeast Brazil were different from those found in studies on the same species and other species of the same genus in native regions. The dominant endophyte was Phaeoramularia calotropidis (63.5 %), followed by Guignardia bidwellii (21.1 %). Six isolates of endophytic fungi showed antimicrobial activity against human pathogenic micro-organisms and one plant pathogenic fungus. The antibacterial activity was more intense than the antifungal activity. The endophytic Curvularia pallescens (URM 6048) stood out inhibited Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, the plant pathogenic fungus Colletotrichum dematium. Ecological and biotechnological aspects of endophytic mycota are discussed. ª 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The British Mycological Society. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Programa de P os-Graduac ¸ ~ ao em Biologia de Fungos, Departamento de Micologia, CCB, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Professor Nelson Chaves, s/n, Cidade Universit aria, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. Tel.: þ55 81 2126 8948; fax: þ55 81 2126 8480. E-mail address: tatianne_l@yahoo.com.br (T.L. Nascimento). available at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/funeco http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.funeco.2014.10.004 1754-5048/ª 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The British Mycological Society. All rights reserved. fungal ecology 14 (2015) 79 e86