Diversity and bioactivities of fungal endophytes from Distylium chinense, a rare waterlogging tolerant plant endemic to the Three Gorges Reservoir

Abstract

Background The present study focuses on diversity and biological activities of the endophytic fungal community from Distylium chinense , a rare waterlogging tolerant plant endemic to the Three Gorges Reservoir. This study has been explored the characteristics of endophytic fungi in waterlogged environment including both aquatic and terrestrial fungi, and they may produce new metabolites under complex and extreme conditions, which may possess bioactive property. Therefore, the antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer activities of all endophytes isolated from this study have been investigated. Moreover, the active metabolites of the most broad-spectrum bioactive strain have also been studied.Results A total of 154 fungal endophytes were isolated from roots and stems. They were categorized into 30 morphotypes based on cultural characteristics and were affiliated with 27 different taxa. Among these, the most abundant fungal orders included Diaporthales (34.4%) and Botryosphaeriales (30.5%), which were predominantly represented by the species Phomopsis sp. (24.7%) and Neofusicoccum parvum (23.4%). Fermentation extracts were evaluated, screening for antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer activities. Among the 154 isolates tested, 99 (64.3%) displayed significant antioxidant activity, 153 (99.4%) exhibited inclusive antimicrobial activity against at least one tested microorganism and 27 (17.5%) showed exclusive anticancer activity against one or more cancer cell lines. Specifically, the crude extract of Irpex lacteus DR10-1 exhibited note-worthy bioactivities. Further chemical investigation on DR10-1 strain resulted in the isolation and identification of two known bioactive metabolites, indole-3-carboxylic acid ( 1 ) and indole-3-carboxaldehyde ( 2 ), indicating their potential roles in plant growth promotion and human medicinal value.Conclusions These results indicated that diverse endophytic fungal population inhabits D. chinense . The isolated endophyte DR10-1 ( Irpex lacteus ) has the potential to be a source of novel antioxidant/antimicrobial/anticancer compounds. The findings of the present study not only provide a sustainable resource for the utilization of endophytic fungi in D. chinense but also provides an important basis for further understanding of fungal communities in medicinal plants.

Extracts of endophytic fungi from leaves of selected Nigerian ethnomedicinal plants exhibited antioxidant activity

“…Isolated fungal extracts ZA 163, LO 261, CA 041, CA 042, CA 043, FE 082, FE 084, and GE 091 from A. zygia , A. cordifolia , C. albidum , F. exasperata , and G. celosioides medicinal plants demonstrated iron chelating capability. Similar observations of antioxidant activity of endophytic fungi isolates have been reported in some medicinal plants such as Bauhinia racemosa , Distylium chinense , Euphorbia hirta , Guazoma tomentosa , Phoenix dactylifer , Phyllanthus amarus , and Senna spectabilis [ 4 , 37 – 41 ]. Our results suggest that endophytic fungi that reside in the leaves of A. ornata , A. zygia , A. cordifolia , C. albidum , F. exasperata , G. celosioides , M. thonningii , and N. laevis showed promising antioxidant activity.…”

Discovery and characterization of bioactive compounds from endophytic fungi

“…However, other authors especially those focusing on the role of the members of this the genus as phytopathogens use the anamorph name on the basis that this state is the most widely applied to many plant diseases (Udayanga et al, 2011). Still many authors continue to report the two as if they were distinct and separate species adding much to the confusion (Duan et al, 2019). In this study, we have adopted to use Diaporthe as the generic name in presenting the diversity results of this study among other discussion that relate to this Genera.…”

“…Even for fungal endophytes isolated from individual plant species, Diaporthe has been cited as a dominant bioactive fungal genus. For example, a study focusing on the diversity and bioactivity of endophytic fungi isolated from Distylium chinense revealed that Phomopsis sp., accounted for the highest number of bioactive fungal isolates with majority of them exhibiting antibacterial, followed by antioxidant and anticancer activities respectively (Duan et al, 2019).…”