07-08-2013, 01:07 PM
Bioassay-guided isolation of antimicrobial compound from endophytes of Zingiber officinale
ABSTRACT
Endophytes are the microbes that lives asymptomatically within plant tissues and have been found in virtually all plant species. These are considered as plant mutualists that colonize the healthy tissues of plants at least for a part of their life cycle. Vast majority of plants have not been studied for their endophytes. Thus, enormous opportunities exist for the recovery of novel fungal taxa. Fungal endophytes provide us with an enormous variety of strange and novel secondary metabolites some of which have profound biological activities. Endophytes, therefore, represent a chemical reservoir for new compounds such as, anticancer, immuno-modulatory, antioxidant, antiparasitic, antiviral, antitubercular, insecticidal etc. for use in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. In the present study, endophytes were isolated from the rhizomes and leaves of Zingiber officinale. A total of twenty fungal endophytes were isolated. Ten fungal endophytes were selected for further study. The extraction of secondary metabolites was done by Soxhlet extraction method. Fungal extracts were checked for their antimicrobial potential against important pathogenic bacteria and fungi using agar well diffusion method as well as bioautogram. Crude fungal extracts showing positive results were subjected to preparative TLC and bioactive antimicrobial compound was isolated and purified. The compound will be further characterized by LC-MS, H1NMR, C13NMR, and IR.