Antifungal properties of some essential oils have been well documented. Clove oil is reported to have strong antifungal activity against many fungal species. In this study we have evaluated antifungal potential of essential oil of Syzygium aromaticum (L.) against some common fungal pathogens of plants and animals namely, Fusarium moniliforme NCIM 1100, Fusarium oxysporum MTCC 284, Aspergillus sp., Mucor sp., Trichophyton rubrum and Microsporum gypseum. All fungal species were found to be inhibited by the oil when tested through agar well diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for all the species. Column chromatography was performed to separate the eugenol rich fraction from clove oil. Out of seven fractions maximum activity was obtained in column fraction II. TLC and HPLC data confirmed presence of considerable Eugenol in fraction II and clove oil. Microscopic study on effect of clove oil and column fraction II on spores of Mucor sp. and M. gypseum showed distortion and shrinkage while it was absent in other column fractions. So it can be concluded that the antifungal action of clove oil is due to its high eugenol content.

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Microbial products offer a non-chemical alternative to manage noxious weeds with the goal of reducing input into the environment of harmful chemicals that are otherwise used for the same purpose. During the present investigations cell-free culture filtrate (CFCF) of Phoma herbarum FGCC no. 75 was evaluated for its phytotoxic property against Parthenium hysterophorus L. The results of shoot cut, detached leaf and seedling bioassays revealed the presence of a toxic metabolite in the CFCF that was responsible for the toxicity against the target weed. Further, the toxic metabolite was characterized after the CFCF extraction with butanol, hexane, chloroform, acetone and ethyl acetate. The residues left after solvent evaporation were evaluated separately for their toxicity against the weed. Residue obtained from ethyl acetate fraction showed very distinct toxicity when compared with others. On

Recently a new taxon of geophilic dermatophytes was established as Microsporum appendiculatum Bhat and Mariam, based on the presence of appendaged macroconidia. However, such appendages are already known in the related species Microsporum gypseum. We conducted a survey of soil in central India as a part of a microbial biodiversity project and obtained two strains of M. gypseum with appendaged macroconidia. Using phenotypical characterization in combination with sequencing and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region of rDNA, we found that all strains of appendaged species are identical. Therefore M. appendiculatum is regarded as a synonym of M. gypseum.

A survey was conducted from 1999 to 2003 as part of a microbial biodiversity study on geophilic and keratinophilic fungi in central India. Among the keratinophilic fungi recovered were 82 isolates belonging to the dermatophyte genus Microsporum. Species were provisionally identified by morphology and confirmed by PCR-RFLP and sequencing of the ITS regions of rDNA. Microsporum persicolor appeared to be preponderant in central Indian soils, outnumbering the common geophilic species of Microsporum filvum and Microsporum gypseum. Three dinucleotide microsatellite markers were developed and their use revealed immense intraspecific variation among Indian populations of M. persicolor which would indicate that this species was not recently introduced into India. No correlation was established between the genotypes and the geographical location or the habitat of the isolates.

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