SCREENING OF FUNGAL ENDOPHYTES WITH DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS OF HEAVY METALS ISOLATED FROM TERMINALIA PALLIDA AN ENDEMIC PLANT OF TIRUMALA HILLS

Heavy metals are effecting the environment have been increasing continuously as a result of industrial activities and technological development and possess a significant threat to human beings, plants, animals and environment. Heavy metals causes liver and lungs damage, bone generation and blood damage. The metals can be removed by various technological methods but they are costly and possess less accurate results. To overcome from these a research study was carried out to biologically approach the accumulation of heavy metals by endophytic fungi. Endophytic fungi was isolated from Terminalia Palida an endemic plant of Tirumala hills and pure cultures of endophytes were isolated and stored at 28±1°C and was screened with different concentrations of selective heavy metals and the heavy metal resistance endophytic fungi was evaluated and molecular identification of endophytic fungi was carried out by 18S rRNA gene amplification and Sanger's nucleotide sequencing. Phylogenetic tree was constructed using NCBI Clustal W. Keywords: Endophytic fungi, heavy metal, endemic plant and screening.