Antimicrobial potential of endophytic fungi isolated from Dillenia indica L. and identification of bioactive molecules produced by Fomitopsis meliae (Undrew.) Murril

The present study evaluated the antibacterial potential of endophytic fungi isolated from Dillenia indica L. and identified bioactive compounds responsible for their antimicrobial activity. A total of twenty-five endophytic fungi were preliminarily screened for their antibacterial activity against human pathogenic bacteria, i.e., Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Bacillus subtilis by dual culture assay. The strains having antibacterial activity were selected and crude extracts were prepared from them. The crude extracts were screened for antibacterial activity by agar well diffusion assay. The ethyl acetate extract of Fomitopsis meliae showed the highest activity against selected human pathogenic bacteria, with a zone of inhibition ranging from 15 to 29 mm. The Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the ethyl acetate extract of F. meliae showed the presence of 40 compounds with predominance of Dodecane (8.87%), Ethyl 2-thiopheneacetate (4.12%), Tetradecane (13.86%), Hexadecane (12.05%), Octadecane (6.67%), Benzaldehyde, 4-(1-methylethyl)- (10.83%), Griseofulvin (3.31%).