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Updated: 09-12-10

ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI ISOLATED FROM EGYPTIAN HENBANE (HYOSCYAMUS MUTICUS L.)

FATMA F. ABDEL-MOTAAL^1,2, MORTADA S. M. NASSAR², SOAD A. EL-ZAYAT², MAGDI A. EL-SAYED^1,2 AND SHIN-ICHI ITO ^1*

Abstract: A total of 44 strains of endophytic fungi have been identified from the medicinal plant Hyoscyamus muticus L. Ten of these strains were inoculated into aseptic seedlings of H. muticus. Of the inoculated strains, 9 were reisolated from the plants as endophytes. Using dual culture assay, we investigated whether eight of these strains, Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus fumigatus, Drechslera hawaiiensis, Fusarium solani, Penicillium citrinum, Neoscytalidium dimidiatum, Thyrostromella myriana and Ulocladium chartarum have  antagonistic activities against two strains of plant pathogenic fungi viz., Gibberella zeae and Thanatephorus cucumeris, as well as 6 strains of non-pathogenic fungi viz., Alternaria alternata, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Cladorrhinum foecundissimum, Curvularia clavata, Penicillium janthinellum and Ulocladium chartarum. The endophytic fungi showed antagonistic activities against all the examined fungal strains. Extra- and intracellular fractions of P. citrinum and N. dimidiatum cultures, both of which showed high antagonistic activities, were extracted with ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water. The resulting fractions were examined for their antifungal activity by performing bioautography coupled with thin-layer chromatography (TLC-bioautography). Extracellular fluids secreted by the cultures of these organisms showed high antifungal activities against fungi, including the two plant pathogenic fungi; this result indicates that these endophytes secrete antifungal compounds extracellularly.

^*Corresponding author's E-mail: shinsan@yamaguchi-u.ac.jp 

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