Fig. 1

A–C Culture of endophytic fungus Piriformospora indica (Pi) and para-globules formation in Hill and Kaefer medium for studying fungal interaction with marine alga Parachlorella kessleri-I (Pk-I). A Spore formation of Pi on Hill and Kaefer medium after 7 days. Then, Pi spores (2.8 × 10⁵ spores/mL) were subjected to form fungal pellets. B After 7 days of Pi pellet formation, they were co-cultured with Pk-I on 0th day culture and incubated for 12 days. C Interaction of Pi and Pk-I studies under Nikon Ni light microscope (100× magnification) after 12th day. Pk-I cells (green) interacting with Pi hyphae (stained with cotton blue dye). The interacting Pk-I cells are shown with black arrows and Pi hyphae are indicated by red arrows