Antibacterial activity of endophytic fungi extracts from the medicinal plant Kigelia africana.

Abstract

Theaim of this study was to identify the endophytic fungi of the medicinal plant Kigeliaafricana (Lam) Benth. (Bignoniaceae) and to investigate their potentialantimicrobial activity. Seven species of endophytic fungi were successfullyisolated from K. Africana for the first time: including Cladosporiumsp., Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus sp., Curvularia lunata aswell as three unknown species. The fungal extracts were assessed for antibacterialactivity against three standard pathogenic bacterial strains: Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Mostof the extracts showed in vitro inhibition of bacterial growth. Thephytochemicalscreening revealed the existence of a diverse group of secondary metabolites inthe crude extracts of the endophytic fungi that resemble those in the hostplant extracts.