Endophytic fungi from medicinal plant Bauhinia forficata: Diversity and biotechnological potential

Abstract

Bauhinia forficata is native to South America and used with relative success in the folk medicine in Brazil. The diversity, antibacterial activity, and extracellular hydrolytic enzymes of endophytic fungi associated with this plant were studied. Plant samples, which included leaves, sepals, stems, and seeds, were used. Ninety-five endophytic fungal were isolated (18 from leaves, 22 from sepals, 46 from stems, and nine from seeds), comprising 28 species. The most frequently isolated species were Acremonium curvulum (9.5%), Aspergillus ochraceus (7.37%), Gibberella fujikuroi (10.53%), Myrothecium verrucaria (10.53%) and Trichoderma piluliferum (7.37%). Diversity and species richness were higher in stem tissues, and Sorensen’s index of similarity between the tissues was low. Eleven fungi showed antibacterial activity. Aspergillus ochraceus , Gibberella baccata , Penicillium commune , and P. glabrum were those with the greatest antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and/or Streptococcus pyogenes . Thirteen species showed proteolytic activity, particularly Phoma putaminum . Fourteen species were cellulase positive, particularly the Penicillium species and Myrmecridium schulzeri . All isolates tested were xylanase positive and 10 showed lipolytic activity, especially Penicillium glabrum . It is clear that the endophytic fungi from B. forficata have potential for the production of bioactive compounds and may be a source of new therapeutic agents for the effective treatment of diseases in humans, other animals, and plants. To our knowledge, this is the first study of endophytic fungi from different tissues of B. forficata and their biotechnological potential.

Antibacterial activity of endophytic fungi isolated from Croton lechleri (Euphorbiaceae)

“…Studies with endophytic fungi have isolated most frequently fungi from stem than from leaves, unlike that observed in C. lechleri (Banhos et al, 2014;Bezerra et al, 2015). Other studies showed leaves with the highest colonization of endophytic fungi (Souza et al, 2004).…”

“…The relative frequency of isolation (RF) was calculated as the number of isolates of a species divided by the total number of isolates, being expressed as a percentage (Bezerra et al, 2015). For the diversity analysis of the endophytic community of C. lechleri, the Simpson and Shannon indices were used to calculate the number of dominant species (Bezerra et al, 2015).…”

“…For the diversity analysis of the endophytic community of C. lechleri, the Simpson and Shannon indices were used to calculate the number of dominant species (Bezerra et al, 2015).…”

“…Species equivalence (E) was calculated by using the following formula: E = H / ln S, where S is the number of species in the sample (Bezerra et al, 2015).…”

“…The presence of endophytic microorganisms in medicinal plants has been observed in many species (Hilarino et al, 2011;Premalatha and Kalra, 2013;Bezerra et al, 2015). These organisms are often involved in complex relationships between the synthesis, degradation, and accumulation of secondary metabolites of biotechnological interest (Müller et al, 2016).…”