Trichoderma tawa (Hypocreaceae): an Unrecorded Endophytic Fungus Isolated from Rhus trichocarpa

Rhus trichocarpa is a deciduous tree belonging to the family Anacardiaceae and is more commonly found throughout Korea than other species of the genus Rhus. In 2024, plant samples were collected from Mt. Minjuji, and the leaves were surface sterilized and plated on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) medium to isolate and culture endophytic fungi. The isolates were identified based on morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) gene region. The results confirmed the identity of the fungus as T. tawa, which has not been reported in Korea.