Endophytic Microbiome Population from Moringa oleifera Leaves Collected in Three Localities at Pernambuco State, Northeast Brazil

Aims: This work investigated the population density of endophytic microorganisms from Moringa
oleifera leaves collected in three localities at the State of Pernambuco (northeastern Brazil): Urban
(campus from the Federal University of Pernambuco, UFPE) and forest (botanical garden) areas at
Recife city and an urban area (industrial district) at Caruaru city.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Antibiotics and Department of Biochemistry from
Federal University of Pernambuco, during four years.
Methodology: Sodium hypochlorite was used to disinfect the leaves, which were macerated in PBS
buffer and separately sowed on seven culture media supplemented with antibacterial or antifungal
agents.
Results: The majority of endophytes isolated were bacteria and the highest density was found in
leaves from the forest area. Regarding to fungi isolation, there was no statistical difference between
the density in leaves from UFPE campus and the botanical garden while no fungal isolates was
obtained from leaves collected in Caruaru. The highest diversity of endophytes was found in the
leaves from the botanical garden, with 111 different isolates. A total of 71, 94 and 50 bacterial isolates
were obtained from leaves of UFPE campus, botanical garden and Caruaru, respectively. The number
of fungal isolates were 17 (UFPE campus) and 12 (botanical garden).
Conclusion: In conclusion, the methodology employed in this work was effective for the isolation of
endophytes; it is still worth to mention that climatic and geographical conditions may interfere in
density and diversity of endophytes from M. oleifera leaves.