Epigenetic Modifiers Affect the Bioactive Compounds Secreted by an Endophyte of the Tropical Plant Piper longum.

Fuad Ameen,Nouf Al-Enazi,Abobakr Almansob,Mona Al Tami,Raha Orfali,Ahmed Al-Sabri

doi:10.3390/molecules26010029

Abstract

Seven endophytic fungi were isolated from the tropical medicinal plant Piper longum L. After preliminary screening, Phomopsis heveicola was selected for the epigenetic activation treatments. The antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant potentials of crude extracts obtained from the treatments (with and without epigenetic modifiers) were analyzed in vitro. The extracts inhibited growth of the human pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella sonnei, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Salmonella typhi, as well as the phytopathogens Puccinia recondita, Rhizoctonia solani, Phytophthora infestans, and Botrytis cinerea. Furthermore, DPPH-scavenging activity was higher in valproic acid treated extracts. Volatile chemicals with known biological activities (measured with GC-MS/MS), were released in the valproic acid treatment. The antimicrobial potentials of the extracts were confirmed using MRM/MS analysis. The experiments revealed a new promising endophytic fungus, P. heveicola, to be utilized in biological plant protection and in biomedical applications.

Highlights

The endophytic fungus selected after antimicrobial screening showed 100% homology with P. heveicola, based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA gene sequencing
The antimicrobial activities of the crude extracts of P. heveicola varied significantly depending on the epigenetic modifier and the concentration at which it was used
We showed that the histone deacetylase inhibitor had the ability to activate silent pathways of the endophytic fungus P. heveicola, whose metabolites had remarkable activity against both human and plant pathogens

Summary

Introduction

Volatile chemicals with known biological activities (measured with GC-MS/MS), were released in the valproic acid treatment. The search for biological agents has involved several organisms, including plants that have been utilized in traditional biomedicine [1]. Plants but their endophytic microorganisms have been found to produce a great variety of biologically active metabolites [2]. Such metabolites might be used, for instance, as antibiotics, anticancer agents, or even against plant pathogens and insects [3,4]. Several VOCs produced by endophytic fungi have been shown to promote plant growth and vigor, and control plant pathogens [4].

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