Planta Med 2012; 78 - PI54
DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1320741

Bioactivity of endophytes from traditionally used medicinal plants in New Brunswick, Canada

K Ellsworth 1, T O'Neill 1, D Webster 3, JA Johnson 1, CA Gray 1, 2
  • 1Department of Biology
  • 2Department of Chemistry, University of New Brunswick Saint John, 100 Tucker Park Road, Saint John, NB E2L 4L5, Canada
  • 3Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Saint John Regional Hospital, Saint John, NB E2L 4L2, Canada

Fungal endophytes have been found to contain bioactive metabolites and are an important yet largely overlooked source of new chemical entities with therapeutic potential. Our current knowledge of endophyte biology is very limited, and only a fraction of the total number of estimated fungal endophyte species have been isolated, cultured, identified and tested for bioactivity in the laboratory. This research project was focused on the isolation, identification and evaluation of the bioactivity of culturable endophytes from traditionally used Canadian medicinal plants. A total of 97 distinct endophytic strains were isolated from twelve traditionally used medicinal plants from southern New Brunswick, Canada. Morphological examination and DNA sequencing allowed the identification of 55 fungal species from 35 genera. The endophytes were evaluated for their ability to produce bioactive natural products in common laboratory bioassays. Extracts of 18 endophytes displayed cytotoxicity (from seven host plants), 11 showed bioactivity against Candida albicans (from five host plants), and eight displayed bioactivity against Staphylococcus aureus (from seven host plants). The extracts are currently being evaluated for anti-tuberculosis activity. Future work will focus on the bioassay guided fractionation of the bioactive extracts to isolate the active compounds.