ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY OF ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI ASSOCIATED WITH OCIMUM SANCTUM

Endophytic fungi of the medicinal herb, Ocimum sanctum are believed to possess antifungal activity against pathogenic fungi. Due to the emergence of pathogenic fungi and antibiotic-resistant strains, the search for alternative antimicrobial agents is a need. The present study aimed to evaluate the antifungal activity of endophytic fungi isolated from O. sanctum. Plate-to-plate method, disk diffusion assay, and Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) were employed in this study. The finding revealed that fungal isolates Colletotrichum sp. IBRL OS-39, Aspergillus sp. IBRL OS-65, Muscodor sp. IBRL OS-94 and Muscodor sp. IBRL OS-98 was able to produce volatile compounds with antifungal activity against pathogenic fungi. On the disk diffusion assay, Lasiodiplodia sp. IBRL OS-64, and Muscodor sp. IBRL OS-94 displayed good antifungal activity against test fungi with a diameter of inhibition zone between 9.6 +/- 0.6 - 14.3 +/- 0.6 mm and 11.2 +/- 1.2 - 15.7 +/- 0.6 mm, respectively. SEM observations revealed remarkable morphological changes in Candida albicans treated with the dichloromethane extracts of Lasiodiplodia sp. IBRL OS-64 and Muscodor sp. IBRL OS-94 with severe cell damage beyond repair and thus leads to cell death.