Abstract
Thirty-four endophytic fungal isolates were obtained from the leaves of the medicinal plant Polyscias fruticosa, and their antagonistic activities against the growth of the common tomatoes plant pathogenic fungus Athelia rolfsii were initially screened using a dual culture assay. The endophytic fungus MFLUCC 17-0313, which was later molecularly identified as Diatrype palmicola, displayed the highest inhibition percentage (49.98%) in comparison to the others. This fungus was then chosen for further evaluation. Its culture broth and mycelia from a 10 L scale were separated and extracted using ethyl acetate, methanol, and hexane. Each extract was tested for antifungal activity against the same pathogen using a disc diffusion assay. Only the crude hexane extract of fungal mycelium showed antifungal activity. The hexane extract was fractioned using sephadex gel filtration chromatography and each fraction was tested for antifungal activity until the one with the highest inhibition percentage was obtained. The bioactive compound was identified as 8-methoxynaphthalen-1-ol using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The minimum inhibition concentration of 8-methoxynaphthalen-1-ol was demonstrated at 250 µg/mL against the selected pathogen. Using the leaf assay, the solution of 8-methoxynapthalen-1-ol was tested for phytotoxic activity against A. rolfsii and was found to have no phytotoxic effects. These results showed that 8-methoxynaphthalen-1-ol has the potential for controlling the growth of A. rolfsii, the cause of Southern blight disease on tomatoes. This study may provide the foundation for future use of this compound as a biofungicide.
Highlights
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is among the most popular and extensively consumed economic vegetable crop in the world
This study presented a similar result to those found in previous studies, which revealed that the endophytic fungi capable of producing bioactive compounds could be isolated from a wide range of plants (Shen et al, 2012; Golinska et al, 2015a; Golinska et al, 2015b)
34 endophytic fungal isolates were obtained from P. fruticosa leaves which is the first report of endophyic fungi from this plant
Summary
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is among the most popular and extensively consumed economic vegetable crop in the world. There are more than 200 known diseases reported during the production of tomatoes, resulting in varying losses in overall product quantity and market values (Nowicki, Kozik & Foolad, 2013). One of the most destructive tomato diseases is Southern blight, which is caused by infection with the basidiomycete fungus A. rolfsii Sclerotium rolfsii) and typically results in significant economic loss (Banyal, Mankotia & Sugha, 2008). This disease is widespread in all tomato-growing areas throughout the world and appears at any stage of plant development during all seasons. Yield loss of tomato production caused by A. rolfsii infection has been reported to vary between 35% and 90% (Sikiroul et al, 2010)
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