Evaluation of Antimicrobial Potential of Endophytic Fungi and LC-MS/MS Profiling of Metabolites from Senna alata (L.) Roxb.

Abstract

The rise of antimicrobial resistance necessitates the discovery of novel bioactive sources. This study evaluated the antimicrobial potential of endophytic fungi isolated from Senna alata (L.) Roxb. leaves and profiled their secondary metabolites using LC-MS/MS. Endophytic fungi were isolated and subjected to antagonistic assays. The promising endophytic fungi were then identified morphologically and molecularly. Antibacterial activity was evaluated against bacterial and pathogenic fungal strains, while LC-MS/MS characterized the metabolite profiles of the endophytic fungi. Seven fungal isolates from S. alata leaves (SA-1 to SA-7) were obtained and screened for antagonistic activity via agar-plug (disk-diffusion agar assays) and fermentation broth (well-diffusion agar assays). Endophytic fungal SA-5 exhibited the most sustained and broad-spectrum inhibition, with zones of 13.93–18.12 mm against bacteria and 15.19 mm against Malassezia furfur in the ethyl acetate extract, while its aqueous extract inhibited Candida albicans at ≥ 10 mg/mL (12.93–15.33 mm). Molecular identification based on ITS sequencing confirmed SA-5 as Phomopsis sp. (99.46 % identity). Bioactive crude extracts from SA-5 reveal 29 metabolites, including naringenin, Asiatic acid, coumarin, indole-3-carboxaldehyde, and feruloyl putrescine. These findings position Phomopsis sp., SA-5 as a promising source of structurally diverse antimicrobial agents. Future work should focus on elucidating its biosynthetic pathways and in vivo pharmacological mechanisms to advance the development of plant-derived antifungal and antibacterial therapeutics.

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