GC-MS-Guided Antimicrobial Defense Responsive Secondary Metabolites from the Endophytic Fusarium solani Isolated from Tinospora cordifolia and Their Multifaceted Biological Properties.

Medicinal plants are hosts to an infinite number of microorganisms, commonly referred to as endophytes which are rich in bioactive metabolites yielding favorable biological activities. The endophytes are known to have a profound impact on their host plant by promoting the accumulation of secondary metabolites which are beneficial to humankind. In the present study, the fungal endophyte, Fusarium solani (ABR4) from the medicinal plant Tinospora cordifolia, was assessed for its bioactive secondary metabolites employing fermentation on a solid rice medium. The crude ABR4 fungal extract was sequentially purified using the solvent extraction method and characterized using different spectroscopic and analytical techniques namely TLC, UV spectroscopic analysis, HRESI-MS, FTIR, and GC-MS analysis. The GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of pyridine, benzoic acid, 4-[(trimethylsilyl)oxy]-trimethylsilyl ester, hexadecanoic acid trimethylsilyl ester, and oleic acid trimethylsilyl ester. The cytotoxic ability of ABR4 was evaluated by MTT assay against lung cancer (A549) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines. The compounds did not exhibit significant cytotoxicity against the tested cell lines. The endophytic ABR4 extract was evaluated for its antimicrobial potential against human pathogens (S. aureus, B. cereus, E. coli, S. typhimurium, P. aeruginosa, and C. albicans) by recording 47 to 54% inhibition. Taken together, the endophytic fungal strain ABR4 demonstrated a remarkable antimicrobial activity against the tested pathogens. Furthermore, the functional metabolites isolated from the endophytic strain ABR4 reveal its broader usage as antimicrobial agents for newer drug development in the pharmaceutical industry.

Ameliorated Antibacterial and Antioxidant Properties by Trichoderma harzianum Mediated Green Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles.

Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using beneficial Trichoderma harzianum is a simple, eco-friendly and cost-effective route. Secondary metabolites secreted by T. harzianum act as capping and reducing agents that can offer constancy and can contribute to biological activity. The present study aimed to synthesize silver nanoparticles using T. harzianum cell filtrate and investigate different bioactive metabolites based on LC-MS/MS analysis. The synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from T. harzianum were characterized by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The surface plasmon resonance of synthesized particles formed a peak centered near 438 nm. The DLS study determined the average size of AgNPs to be 21.49 nm. The average size of AgNPs was measured to be 72 nm by SEM. The cubic crystal structure from XRD analysis confirmed the synthesized particles as silver nanoparticles. The AgNPs exhibited remarkable antioxidant properties, as determined by DPPH and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. The AgNPs also exhibited broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against two Gram-positive bacteria (S. aureus and B. subtilis) and two Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli and R. solanacearum). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of AgNPs towards bacterial growth was evaluated. The antibacterial activity of AgNPs was further confirmed by fluorescence microscopy and SEM analysis.

Endophytic Fungi-Alternative Sources of Cytotoxic Compounds: A Review.

Cancer is a major cause of death worldwide, with an increasing number of cases being reported annually. The elevated rate of mortality necessitates a global challenge to explore newer sources of anticancer drugs. Recent advancements in cancer treatment involve the discovery and development of new and improved chemotherapeutics derived from natural or synthetic sources. Natural sources offer the potential of finding new structural classes with unique bioactivities for cancer therapy. Endophytic fungi represent a rich source of bioactive metabolites that can be manipulated to produce desirable novel analogs for chemotherapy. This review offers a current and integrative account of clinically used anticancer drugs such as taxol, podophyllotoxin, camptothecin, and vinca alkaloids in terms of their mechanism of action, isolation from endophytic fungi and their characterization, yield obtained, and fungal strain improvement strategies. It also covers recent literature on endophytic fungal metabolites from terrestrial, mangrove, and marine sources as potential anticancer agents and emphasizes the findings for cytotoxic bioactive compounds tested against specific cancer cell lines.