Inoculation Of Baldcypress With Salt-Tolerant Endophytes

Baldcypress trees are highly important in coastal swamps, especially in the Gulf Coast region, due to their ability to buffer the effects of major storms. These populations are being threatened by increased salinity and flooding due to sea level rise. Endophytes (bacteria and fungi) are known to improve their host plant’s response to various stressors, which leads us to believe that endophytes may improve the resilience of these threatened baldcypress populations. Our lab has inoculated baldcypress seedlings with endophytes we have determined to be substantially salt tolerant, and the objective of this research is to gain a better understanding of the longevity of inoculated salt tolerant endophytes in the roots of baldcypress trees, and how these symbionts influence seedling growth. This was accomplished through identification and analysis of reisolated fungi and bacteria from the roots of the inoculated seedlings. Results indicate that the method of inoculation was ineffective, as root samples collected both 3 days after inoculation and 1 month after inoculation typically did not yield endophytes that matched the ITS1 region of the DNA of the strain used to inoculate the seedlings.