RESUMO
An endophytic fungus NFWI, possessing antimicrobial activity against bacterial and fungal pathogens, was isolated from indigenous Taxus fauna. Phylogenetic analysis coupled with cultural and morphological characteristics revealed that endophyte NFWI closely resembles Epicoccum sp. It showed optimum growth and antimicrobial activity in mineral salt medium TM, incubation temperature 250C, incubation time 15 days and pH 6.5. Antimicrobial peptides were precipitated with 80% ammonium sulfate and expressed significant inhibitory effect against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC6538) and Candida albicans (CI.I 4043). It also inhibited growth of Streptomyces 85E in hyphae formation inhibition assay showing potential as protein kinase inhibitor. Gel filtration chromatography on Sephadex G-75, followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis resolved the crude precipitate into three fractions of molecular mass 32 kDa, 44 kDa and 70 kDa. The study concludes that endophytic fungi associated with indigenous Taxus species possess promising antimicrobial activities and should be exploited as source of novel antimicrobial agents.
