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Fungi inhabiting Japanese pear were isolated from internal tissues of cv. Nijisseiki, and culture filtrates (CFs) of 100 isolates were evaluated for their inhibitory activity against infection by Alternaria alternata Japanese pear pathotype. CFs of 11 isolates inhibited lesion formation on the pear by the pathogen. Among these isolates, CFs of five isolates inhibited spore germination. CFs of the six other isolates inhibited appressorial formation, infection hypha formation, AK-toxin production, or a combination of these actions. Analysis of sequence homology in the rDNA ITS1 regions of these isolates showed that most isolates had high homology with some fungal endophytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]