Antibacterial Activities of Endophytic Fungi from Capsicum Annuum L. (Siling Labuyo) Leaves and Fruits
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BU R&D Journal 22 (1): 60-69, July 2019 | ISSN (Print): 0016-4139 journal.bicol-u.edu.ph Antibacterial Activities of Endophytic Fungi from Capsicum annuum L. (Siling labuyo) leaves and fruits Eliza Ann A. Arena, Mae Breech R. Bernal, and Jazzlyn T. Imperial* Bicol University College of Science, Legazpi City *Corresponding author: [email protected] Abstract Endophytic fungi were isolated from Capsicum annuum (siling labuyo) from three ecological zones in the province of Albay, Philippines and were identified through morpho-cultural characteristics and by molecular analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the 18S ribosomal DNA. Eight fungal endophytes were isolated from the leaves and fruits. Seven were identified as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae, Nigrospora sphaerica, Guignardia mangiferae, Coprinopsis cinerea, Colletotrichum siamense and Colletotrichum truncatum while one remained unidentified. The extracted metabolites from the isolates were then screened for their antibacterial activities at 1,000 µg/mL. Among the fungal isolates, C. cinerea was found to be the most active against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli with zones of inhibition (ZOI) of 16.00 ± 1.00 and 17.00 ± 1.53 mm, respectively. Phytochemical screening showed that C. cinerea produced a variety of secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids and quinones. The other fungal endophytes were also found to synthesize various secondary compounds that may be responsible for their antibacterial activities. Keywords: antimicrobial, Bicol, Escherichia coli, mycology, sili, Staphylococcus aureus Introduction Endophytes are highly diverse microorganisms that live within plant tissues without causing disease Antibiotic resistance is the ability of (Jia et al., 2016). They act as reservoirs of novel bioactive microorganisms to modify itself to become resistant or secondary metabolites, such as alkaloids, phenolic acids, unaffected when continually exposed to antimicrobial quinones, steroids, saponins, tannins, and terpenoids drugs. The upsurge of antibiotic resistance threatens which serve as a latent candidate for antimicrobial, public health on a global scale as it lessens the anti-insect, and anticancer agents, among others effectiveness of available treatments. This brings to the (Gouda et al., 2016). In addition to this, metabolites forefront the need to search for new antibiotics (Matjaz that are obtained from fungal endophytes from several et al., 2015). medicinal plants are identified to be good sources of pharmaceutical leads (Guerrero et al., 2019). Hence, they Traditionally, microorganisms that were are promising sources of new bioactive products that investigated for novel therapeutic agents were isolated are clinically and biotechnologically relevant (Ding et from soil. However, scientists had recently shifted their al., 2010). attention to less investigated ecological niches such as fungal endophytes which are considered as a possible The Philippines is recognized as a biodiversity source of bioactive natural products because of the hotspot with over 9,000 plant species inhabiting variety of secondary metabolites with remarkably the archipelago (Conservation International, 2007). complex molecular scaffolds they produce (Pelo et al., However, amidst the country’s floral diversity, there 2020). Moreover, they have shown to yield important are limited studies regarding the associated mycoflora compounds of pharmaceutical and commercial interest of Philippine plants. Fungal endophytes from Pandanus (Strobel, 2018). This leads to notable researches on fungi amaryllifolius (Bungihan et al., 2013), Ipomea batatas from plants as sources of bioactive metabolites with (Hipol, 2012), Musa spp. (Dagamac et al., 2010) and potential use in the health sector and in drug discovery Canarium ovatum (Torres & Dela Cruz, 2015; Guerrero (Torres & Dela Cruz, 2015). & Dalisay, 2018) were previously studied due to their BU R&D Journal, Vol. 22, July 2019 Arena et al.: Antibacterial Activities of Endophytic Fungi ISSN (Print): 0016-4139 from Capsicum annuum L. (Siling labuyo) leaves and fruits journal.bicol-u.edu.ph economic significance. One of the plants that is yet to plant samples were rinsed gently in running water to be explored for endophytic fungal communities is the remove dust and debris. After washing, a metallic one- C. annuum (siling labuyo), an important crop in the hole puncher with 6 mm diameter hole was used to Bicol Region and is often used in promoting Bicolano punch out two leaf explants under aseptic conditions, culture through cuisine and herbal medicine. Being a from each sampling sites. For the fruit tissues, a flame- medicinal plant, it has been used to aid problems with sterilized scalpel was used to cut 2 pcs of 5x3x2 mm fruit digestion like upset stomach, intestinal gas, stomach tissue (Hipol et al., 2014). Afterwards, all explants and pain, diarrhea, and cramps. It is also used to treat tissues were subjected to surface-sterilization. Explants cardiovascular conditions that include poor circulation, and tissues were sterilized using sequential immersion excessive blood clotting and high cholesterol (Gururaj et in 95% ethanol for 1 min and NaOCl for 3 min. After al., 2004). immersing into the chemicals, both leaf explants and fruit tissues were rinsed with distilled water 3 times for There is a possibility that the medicinal properties 3 min each and were airdried under sterile conditions. of C. annuum be mirrored by its fungal endophytes. The Tissue printing was also done wherein samples were fungi, even without the plant can be used to harness touched onto uninoculated Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and produce the same benefits similar to its host plates for possible epiphytic growth. In addition, open (Guerrero & Dalisay, 2018). Thus, this inspired the plate method was done by opening 4 uninoculated PDA current study to isolate the endophytic fungi from C. plates while transferring surface sterilized explants annuum and screen their secondary compounds against and tissues to check for possible contaminations. Two test microorganisms. leaf explants and fruit tissues were inoculated per petri dish in triplicates thus having 6 segments per ecological zone. Materials and Methods The surface-sterilized explants and tissues were Sampling sites and collection of plant samples plated immediately with the use of flame-sterilized forceps. Chloramphenicol at 150 mg/L was added Three ecological zones were chosen as sampling to prevent the growth of bacterial contaminants. sites of C. annuum leaves and fruits: the East Washington Inoculated plates were incubated at room temperature Drive Legazpi City (13.145865° N, 123.734674° E; E: for 3-7 days, and observed for growth every after two 13.81 masl) as lowland, Bonot Legazpi City (13.158089° days. Emerging hyphae from the edge of the explants N, 123.7471° E; E: 5.63 masl) as coastland and Maslog were isolated in freshly prepared PDA slants to obtain Legazpi City (13.107071° N, 123.768533° E; E: 79.35 pure cultures. masl) as upland. The plant sample collection was carried out by randomly collecting ten pieces of mature Identification and phylogenetic analysis healthy plant leaves and fruits from each of the chosen sampling sites. The collected specimens were ensured After obtaining pure cultures, identification of the to have no visual disease symptoms such as necrosis, isolated fungal endophytes were performed by comparing chlorosis, deformities and insect foraging. Mature their cultural and morphological characteristics with leaves were those that were darker in color and had published literatures (Abass & Hussein, 2014; Badalyan bigger blade while mature fruits were those that were et al., 2011; Baldassari et al., 2008; Intan Sakinah et al., reddish and shinier in color and had plump shape. 2014; Munirah et al., 2017). Accession numbers were Complete leaf blades and fruits were collected and also assigned to each morphospecies. Species having placed in sterile polyethylene bags in preparation for distinct morphocultural characteristics from the rest of endophytic fungal isolation. The plant samples gathered the cultured endophytic fungi were sent to Macrogen were authenticated by the National Museum Botany Inc. (South Korea) for molecular identification. Division, Manila with control specimen number of 17- The genomic DNA from selected endophytes were 08-1464. amplified and sequenced using the primer pair ITS1F (5’ TCCGTAGGTGAACCTGCGG 3’) and ITS4R (5’ Isolation of endophytic fungi TCCTCCGCTTATTGATATGC 3’). DNA sequences were then compared with the National Center for Endophytic fungi were isolated from the leaves Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database with the and fruits of C. annuum following the protocol of Torres use of BLASTN algorithm. Sequences of identified and Dela Cruz (2015) with some modifications. The species were aligned using CLUSTAL W in MEGA 6. 61 BU R&D Journal, Vol. 22, July 2019 ISSN (Print): 0016-4139 Arena et al.: Antibacterial Activities of Endophytic Fungi from Capsicum annuum L. (Siling labuyo) leaves and fruits journal.bicol-u.edu.ph The evolutionary distances were computed using the 100 mL sterile Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB). After p-distance method followed by the construction of a inoculation, all flasks were incubated for 35 days at room phylogenetic tree to provide a graphical representation temperature under stationary conditions. Afterwards, of divergence among isolated fungal endophytes.