Endophytic fungi
Cladosporium cladosporioides (
F1-MH810309) and
Cladosporium tenuissimum (
F2-MN715834) from the leaf of wild
Cymbopogon martinii (
MT90507) were isolated and selected based on the persistent occurrence during different seasons of the year. They were identified based on the morphological features and molecular characterization (ITS sequence), and later deposited at NCBI. Phytochemical studies on
F1,
F2 and host extracts showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, terpenoids and tannins. The GC-MS of
F1 extract (control) under the axenic condition revealed compounds like hexadecane, heptadecane,2,4-Ditert-butylphenol, E-14 hexadecenal, geraniol, geranyl acetate and cubenol similar to the host. The GC-MS of
F2 extract (control) revealed metabolites that were unique. Further, both
F1 and
F2 were cultured in the supplementation of different concentrations (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) of the host plant extract (an-axenic condition). The GC-MS of
F1 extracts (test) exhibited good growth and showed the gradual increased production of terpenoid compounds whereas the
F2 (test) did not show any growth. These compounds such as hyrdoxymenthol, nor-borneol, cedralacetate, α-cyclogeraniol, campesterol, β-cyclogeraniol, linalool oxide,2,3-boranediol, citronellyltiglate and 2,3-pinanediol were produced in a minor quantity and were known as biotransformed forms of the precursor compounds present in the host extract. In comparison, only
F1 was able to produce terpenoids similar to the host species both in axenic and an-axenic conditions. Hence from the current study, the endophytic fungus
F1 isolated from wild
C. martinii for the first time can serve as a better resource for the bioprospection of an important terpenoid and its metabolites.
Full article
