Volatile antimicrobials from Muscodor albus, a novel endophytic fungus

Abstract

Muscodor albus is a recently described endophytic fungus obtained from small limbs of Cinnamomum zeylanicum (cinnamon tree). This xylariaceaous fungus effectively inhibits and kills certain other fungi, and bacteria, by virtue of a mixture of volatile compounds that it produces. The majority of these compounds were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and then made into an artificial mixture that mimicked the antibiotic effects of the mixture of volatile compounds given off by the fungus. Each of the five classes of volatile compounds produced by the fungus (alcohols, esters, ketones, acids and lipids) had some inhibitory effect against the test fungi and bacteria, but none was lethal. However, collectively they acted synergistically to kill a broad range of plant-and human-pathogenic fungi and bacteria. The most effective class of inhibitory compounds was the esters, of which 1-butanol, 3-methyl-, acetate was the most active biologically. This report describes the ecological implications and potential practical benefits of the 'mycofumigation' effects of M. albus.

Identification of Volatile Metabolites from Fungal Endophytes with Biocontrol Potential towards <i>Fusarium oxysporum</i> F. sp. <i>cubense</i> Race 4

“…which has inhibitory effect towards Pythium ultimum and Verticillum dahliae (Stinson et al, 2003). Butyrolactone was also produced by Gliocladium roseum (Strobel et al, 2001; and in Aspegillus terreus and has shown inhibitory effect towards the pathogen Botrytis cinerea (Cazar et al, 2005). Other volatile compounds such as α-phellandrene, acetic acid pentyl ester and 2-acetyl-5-methylfuran, have also been detected in Penicillium roqueforti (Jelen, 2002), Sordoria fimricola (Wihlborg et al, 2008) and Aspergillus fumigatu (Frisvad et al, 2009), respectively, but their antifungal properties are not well-established.…”

“…For control, volatile compounds were collected from the headspace of a non-inoculated agar plate. Identification of the volatile compounds was performed by comparing with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) database on the mass spectrometer (Strobel et al, 2001;Ting et al, 2007;Trivedi et al, 2008;Wan et al, 2008). The GCMS analysis was repeated once.…”

“…After 7 days of incubation at room temperature, the volatiles produced by the fungal endophytes were collected using the Solid-Phase Micro-Extraction (SPME) technique (Strobel et al, 2001;Ting et al, 2007;Trivedi et al, 2008;Wan et al, 2008). The SPME technique detects all types of volatile compounds produced at the headspace above the fungal cultures and do not discern between inhibitory and non-inhibitory volatiles.…”

“…Contrary, the extraction, characterization and identification of volatile compounds produced by fungal endophytes can only be studied using more sophisticated means, such as with the use of GasChromatography Mass-Spectrophotometry (GC-MS) (Strobel et al, 2001). As such, studies on beneficial inhibitory volatile metabolites are relatively new (Chen et al, 2008;El-Hasan et al, 2009;Fernando et al, 2005).…”

Evolution of ‘pollinator’- attracting signals in fungi

“…Recently, volatile compounds with inhibitory effects on a range of micro-organisms were discovered in endophytic species of Muscodor and Gliocladium (Strobel et al 2001;Stinson et al 2003). Generally, volatile compounds are better known as signal transmitters in intra-and interspecific communication, and are important for pollinator attraction in many higher plants (Raguso 2001 Figure 1.…”