Antifungal Activity of Lichen-Forming Fungi Isolated from Korean and Chinese Lichen Species Against Plant Pathogenic Fungi

Abstract

Antifungal activity of Korean and Chinese lichen-forming fungi(LFF) was evaluated against plant pathogenic fungi of Botryosphaeria dothidea, Botrytis cinerea, Diaporthe actinidiae, Pestalotiopsis longiseta, Pythium sp., Rhizoctonia solani, and Sclerotium cepivorum. The LFF were isolated from Cladonia scabriuscula, Melanelia sp., Nephromopsis asahinae, Nephromopsis pallescens, Parmelia laevior, Pertusaria sp., Ramalina conduplicans, Ramalina sinensis, Ramalina sp., Umbilicaria proboscidea and Vulpicida sp. with discharged spore method. The isolates were deposited in the herbarium of Korean Lichen Research Institute(KoLRI) in Sunchon National University. The LFF of Melanelia sp., P. laevior, Pertusaria sp., R. conduplican and Ramalina sp. exhibited strong antifungal activity against all of the pathogenic fungi examined. Among them, LFF of P. laevior showed more than 90% of inhibition in fungal hyphae growth, compared with control. The results imply that LFF can be served as a promising bioresource to develop novel biofungicides. Mass cultivation of the LFF is now under progress in laboratory conditions for chemical identification of antifungal substances.