Clonostachys rosea, a marine algal endophyte, as an alternative source of chrysin and its anticancer effect.

Endophytic fungi were isolated from the marine green alga Chaetomorpha antennina and identified as Clonostachys rosea through molecular analysis. C. rosea was grown in a tryptophan medium for 21 days and after that, the metabolites were extracted by ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate extract showed a high cytotoxic effect on MCF-7 cells. GC-MS analysis of the ethyl acetate extract revealed the presence of many compounds, and chrysin was one of the major compounds among them. Hence, further studies were concentrated on chrysin, as it was assumed to be the major attributor to the potent cytotoxicity, based on its high anticancer efficacies reported earlier. The fungal ethyl acetate extract had been analysed for chrysin using HPTLC and compared its Rf value with authentic chrysin and it was matched. Further, the purified fungal chrysin was structurally elucidated using techniques like LC-MS and NMR analyses. Quantification revealed that C. rosea produced 1050 mg/L of chrysin. This surplus production of chrysin was the major significance of the study. The purified fungal chrysin was found to be highly cytotoxic to MCF-7 cells with a low IC50 value 35.5 ± 0.6 µM. Furthermore, DNA fragmentation and apoptosis analysis indicated the selective inhibition of MCF-7 by DNA damage. Thus, the present study implies that C. rosea is an alternative source and new method for surplus production of chrysin in the tryptophan medium. All results indicate that the marine algae endophytic C. rosa produces chrysin, and for the first time, an excess amount of production was revealed by the study.

Antidiabetic potential of Gymnemic acid mediated gold nanoparticles (Gym@AuNPs) on Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats-An implication on in vivo approach.

Gymnemic acid is glycosides of triterpene with recognized and valuable applications for several chronic diseases, mainly diabetics. Despite this, it requires a delivery system in order to range its therapeutic target due to its limited solubility and bioavailability. Therefore, the Gymnemic acid mediated gold nanoparticles (Gym@AuNPs) was synthesised by eco-friendly approach. The synthesised Gym@AuNPs was confirmed by the colour change from light yellow to a deep ruby red. UV - visible spectroscopy results showed a strong narrow peak at 530 nm, confirming the controlled synthesis of monodispersed Gym@AuNPs. The reduction potential of standard Gymnemic acid (Gym) on synthesis of Gym@AuNPs was confirmed by using HPLC analysis. The spherical shaped Gym@AuNPs was observed by FESEM and HR-TEM studies with average size of 48.52 ± 5.53 nm. The XRD analysis exhibited a face-centered cubic (FCC) crystalline nature of Gym@AuNPs. The in vivo antidiabetic activity of Gym and Gym@AuNPs were validated using Streptozotocin induced diabetic Albino wistar rats. The Gym@AuNPs and Gym were regulates the glucose and lipid levels in experimental animals. The histopathology outcomes shown that the Gym@AuNPs were restoration of pancreatic islets cells in the animals. This investigation demonstrated that the Gym@AuNPs had the potential anti-diabetic properties.

Novel Microbial Sources of Tropane Alkaloids: First Report of Production by Endophytic Fungi Isolated from Datura metel L.

Eighteen endophytic fungi were isolated from various tissues of Datura metel and genes encoding for putrescine N-methyltransferase (PMT), tropinone reductase 1 (TR1) and hyoscyamine 6ß-hydroxylase (H6H) were used as molecular markers for PCR-based screening approach for tropane alkaloids (TAs) producing endophytic fungi. These fungi were identified taxonomically by sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) and also based on morphological characteristics of the fungal spore as Colletotrichum boninense, Phomopsis sp., Fusarium solani, Colletotrichum incarnatum, Colletotrichum siamense and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. The production of TAs hyoscyamine and scopolamine by the fungi has been ascertained using chromatography and spectroscopy methods by comparison with the standards. Among the fungi, the highest yields of hyoscyamine (3.9 mg/L) and scopolamine (4.1 mg/L) were found in C. incarnatum culture. This is the first report of endophytic fungi possess the PMT, TR1 and H6H genes and produces TAs. These endophytic fungi have significant potential to be applied in fermentation technology to meet the demands for TAs economically.