Cytotoxic and antibacterial activities of endophytic fungi isolated from plants at the National Park, Pahang, Malaysia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Endophytes, microorganisms which reside in plant tissues, have potential in producing novel metabolites for exploitation in medicine. Cytotoxic and antibacterial activities of a total of 300 endophytic fungi were investigated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Endophytic fungi were isolated from various parts of 43 plants from the National Park Pahang, Malaysia. Extracts from solid state culture were tested for cytotoxicity against a number of cancer cell lines using the MTT assay. Antibacterial activity was determined using the disc diffusion method.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 300 endophytes were isolated from various parts of plants from the National Park, Pahang. 3.3% of extracts showed potent (IC₅₀< 0.01 μg/ml) cytotoxic activity against the murine leukemic P388 cell line and 1.7% against a human chronic myeloid leukemic cell line K562. <it>Sporothrix </it>sp. (KK29FL1) isolated from <it>Costus speciosus </it>showed strong cytotoxicity against colorectal carcinoma (HCT116) and human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF7) cell lines with IC₅₀values of 0.05 μg/ml and 0.02 μg/ml, respectively. Antibacterial activity was demonstrated for 8% of the extracts.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Results indicate the potential for production of bioactive agents from endophytes of the tropical rainforest flora.</p

The hidden world within plants: ecological and evolutionary considerations for defining functioning of microbial endophytes

All plants are inhabited internally by diverse microbial communities comprising bacterial, archaeal, fungal, and protistic taxa. These microorganisms showing endophytic lifestyles play crucial roles in plant development, growth, fitness, and diversification. The increasing awareness of and information on endophytes provide insight into the complexity of the plant microbiome. The nature of plant-endophyte interactions ranges from mutualism to pathogenicity. This depends on a set of abiotic and biotic factors, including the genotypes of plants and microbes, environmental conditions, and the dynamic network of interactions within the plant biome. In this review, we address the concept of endophytism, considering the latest insights into evolution, plant ecosystem functioning, and multipartite interactions.EU Cost Action [FA1103, 312117]; FWF (Austrian Science Foundation) [P26203-B22, P24569-B25]; Portuguese FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology) [SFRH/BPD/78931/2011]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Coronamycins, peptide antibiotics produced by a verticillate Streptomyces sp. (MSU-2110) endophytic on Monstera sp

Coronamycin is a complex of novel peptide antibiotics with activity against pythiaceous fungi and the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. It is also active against the malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, with an IC50 of 9.0 ng ml-1. Coronamycin is produced by a verticillate Streptomyces sp. isolated as an endophyte from an epiphytic vine, Monstera sp., found in the Manu region of the upper Amazon of Peru. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the fermentation broths of this endophyte on silica gel and HPLC chromatography yielded two principal, inseparable, peptides with masses of 1217.9 and 1203.8 Da. Three other minor, but related components, are also present in the preparation. Amino acid analysis of coronamycin revealed residues of component 1, component 2, methionine, tyrosine and leucine at a ratio of 2: 2: 1: 1: 3. Other compounds with antifungal activities are also produced by this endophytic streptomycete. © 2004 SGM