Abstract

Endophytic fungi inhabit the interior of healthy plants without causing apparent harm to them and can synthesize bioactive compounds, which constitute an alternative for the control of human pathogens. This current study reports the molecular identification of two endophytes from passion fruit plants: the isolate PE1-13 (from Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa) was identified as Phyllosticta sp., while the isolate PA8-2 (from Passiflora alata) is a Cercospora beticola strain. The thin layer chromatography showed that steroids and triterpenoids were present in the secondary metabolites produced by these two endophytes. The antibacterial assay against Enterococcus faecalis, Salmonella typhi and Streptococcus pyogenes indicated that the fungal metabolites reduced up to 98.1±0.5% of the bacterial growth. Therefore, the results suggest that these endophytes have the potential to produce antibacterial compounds.

Key words: endophytic fungi, antimicrobial action, Passiflora genus, rDNA sequencing, thin layer chromatography