New record of Gymnoascus udagawae associated with Clathria sp. sponge from Indonesia and the potency as anti-Candida

Abstract

Marine sponges are associated with marine fungi. The associated fungi produce secondary metabolites for sponge survival in extreme habitats. Despite the important role of the associated fungi on their host, the research on marine fungi however has not been studied well. This study aimed to isolate sponge-associated marine fungi and analyze the potency of fungal secondary metabolites against Candida albicans. The sponge used was Clathria sp. collected from Pramuka Island, Indonesia. Fungal isolation used the direct inoculation method. Fungal identification was done by morphological and molecular characteristics of ITS rDNA region. Detection of anti-Candida used the well diffusion method. The isolate has typical morphological characteristics of the genus Gymnoascus with noduled chlamydospore and arthroconidia. The isolated fungus was identified as Gymnoascus udagawae based on morphological and molecular analysis. This is the first record of marine fungi G. udagawae from Indonesia. The ethyl acetate extract of fungal filtrate showed 1.4 cm inhibition diameter of 500 mg/μL extract. The inhibition is moderate category compared to that of clotrimazole a drug commonly used for candidiasis as the positive control with showed 2.8 cm inhibition diameter at 100 mg/μL. The fungus is a potential source of the secondary metabolite active against C. albicans.