US EPA

8300422 

Journal Article 

Antagonistic and antibacterial activity of endophytic fungi isolated from needle of Cupressus torulosa D.Don 

Bisht, R; Sharma, D; Agrawal, PK 

2016 

Innovare Academics Sciences Pvt. Ltd 

9 

3 

English 

Objective: This study was undertaken to investigate antagonistic and antibacterial activities of the endophytic fungi isolated from living symptomless needle of Cupressus torulosa D.Don from Pauri, Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms calls for inventive research and development strategies. Inhibition of these pathogenic microorganisms may be a promising therapeutic approach. The screening of antimicrobial compounds from endophytes may be a promising way to meet the increasing threat of drug-resistant strains of human and plant pathogens. Methods: A total of five different fungal endophytes were isolated from the needle of C. torulosa D.Don using potato dextrose agar medium. These fungal isolates morphotypically characterized. These isolates were further tested for antagonistic activity by the dual culture technique. Among five endophytic fungi, only two fungal endophytes were cultured to examine their antimicrobial properties and phytochemical analysis. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated for crude hexane extracts against human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Salmonella typhimurium using an agar diffusion assay. Results: A total of five fungal endophytes characterized as such as Cladosporium sp., Aspergillus sp., Fuzaium sp., Curvularia sp., and Diaporthe sp. In which, only two endophytic fungal isolates such as PCTS23 and WCTS21 characterized morphotypically as Cladosporium sp. and Curvularia sp., respectively, were able to show strong antagonism activity against fungal pathogen. The fungal isolate PCTS3 was more active against Macrophomina phaesolina with antagonistic index 88.88 while WCTS21 was more active against F. solani with antagonistic index 80. The fungal crude extract of WCTS21 produced the highest zone of inhibition 12 mm for S. aureus, whereas crude extract of PCTS23 from hexane crude extract has shown the highest zone of inhibition of 10 mm against S. aureus. A preliminary qualitative phytochemical analysis of fungal crude extracts also revealed the presence of bioactive metabolites such as flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, saponins, steroids, tannins, and terpenoids in endophytic fungi. Conclusions: This study concludes that endophytic fungi isolated from C. torulosa D.Don could be a potential source for bioactive metabolites and may be used in pharmaceutical industry. The generated data has provided the basis for its application in the pharmaceutical industry in the form of traditional and folk medicine. © 2016, Innovare Academics Sciences Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. 

Antagonistic activity; Antibacterial activity; Bioactive metabolites; Cupresus torulosa; Endophytic fungi; Phytochemical analysis