The anti-infective potential of the endophytic fungi associated with Allium cepa supported by metabolomics analysis and docking studies

Abstract

Endophytic fungi are known to be a rich source for anti-infective drugs. In our study, Allium cepa was investigated for fungal diversity using different media to give eleven isolates which were identified morphologically. Out of the isolated fungal strains, Penicillium sp. (LCEF10) revealed potential anti-infective activity against the tested microbes (Fusarium solani ATTC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATTC 29213, Staphylococcus aureus ATTC 27853, Candida albicans ATTC 10231), besides, their MICs were measured by well diffusion method therefore it was subjected to molecular identification in addition to phylogenetic analysis. Moreover, the ITS sequence of strain LCEF10 showed a consistent assignment with highest sequence similarity (99.81%) to Penicillium oxalicum NRRL 787. The crude ethyl acetate extract of Penicillium sp. LCEF10 was investigated for metabolomic analysis using LC-HR-ESI-MS. The metabolic profiling revealed the presence of polyketides, macrolides, phenolics, and terpenoids. Furthermore, in silico molecular docking study was carried out to predict which compounds most likely responsible for the anti-infective activity.

New cytotoxic dammarane type saponins from Ziziphus spina-christi

“…Numerous investigations on the use of secondary metabolites of plants in conventional medicine have been done [9][10][11] . These secondary metabolites were found to have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, cardioprotective, and anticancer effects 12,13 . Approximately 60% of anticancer medicines are in clinical trials or preclinical testing e.g.…”