Abstract
Host phenology is an important determinant of the microbial community, yet how it shapes the evolution and function of endophytic fungi in native plants of the Cerrado remains poorly understood. We investigated cultivable foliar fungal communities in Connarus suberosus (evergreen) and Diospyros lasiocalyx (deciduous) using an integrative approach. A total of 365 isolates were obtained, and most belonged to the genus Diaporthe . Both host plants harbored communities with similar alpha and beta diversity patterns, characterized by high taxonomic dominance and consistent composition. Beta diversity analyses revealed no significant differences in community composition between host species (PERMANOVA, p > 0.05). The high abundance of Diaporthe in both hosts likely contributed to the observed compositional similarity. Phylogenetic community structure was consistent between hosts, characterized by stochastic assembly for most taxa. The only distinct signal was a significant phylogenetic clustering for the genus Diaporthe in the deciduous D. lasiocalyx (NTI = 0.75; p = 0.042), whereas Diaporthe in C. suberosus followed a stochastic pattern (NTI = -0.60; p = 0.677). For non-dominant genera, assembly rules remained stochastic in both host species ( p > 0.05). The bipartite network analysis indicated compartmentalization, with 72.4% of genera classified as specialists. Diaporthe showed significant negative correlations with Penicillium and Colletotrichum ( p < 0.001), indicating non-random association patterns among dominant taxa. Functionally, Mantel analyses indicated that variation in plant-pathogen and litter-saprotroph guilds was associated with taxonomic community structure. Overall, our results indicate that contrasting host phenologies had limited effects on the diversity and composition of cultivable foliar endophytic fungal communities. Instead, both hosts were characterized by similar community structures dominated by Diaporthe , with only a subtle phylogenetic signal detected for this genus in the deciduous host.