From the fungal endophyte, Fusarium redolens Dzf2, isolated from rhizomes of the Chinese medicinal plant Dioscorea zingiberensis, beauvericin was obtained by TLC in combination with bioautographic antibacterial assay. The compound was identified by spectroscopic and physicochemical means. The median effective inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of beauvericin against six test bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Pseudomonas lachrymans, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Escherichia coli and Xanthomonas vesicatoria) were between 18.4 and 70.7 μg/mL. The beauvericin content of F. redolens Dzf2 mycelia was 9.60 mg/g dw, and beauvericin yield 62.4 mg/L. The obtained results show the potential use of the endophytic fungus for its biological role in providing its host plant with protection, as well as the possible development of beauvericin as an antibacterial.
TanRX, ZouWX. (2001) Endophytes: a rich source of functional metabolites. Natural Product Reports, 18, 448–459.
2.
StrobelGA. (2003) Endophyte as sources of bioactive products. Microbes and Infection, 5, 535–544.
3.
ZhangHW, SongYC, TanRX. (2006) Biology and chemistry of endophytes. Natural Product Reports, 23, 753–771.
4.
GangadeviV, MuthumaryJ. (2007) Taxol, an anticancer drug produced by an endophytic fungus Bartalinia robillardoides Tassi, isolated from a medicinal plant, Aegle marmelos Correa ex Roxb. World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology, 24, 717–724.
SieberTN. (2007) Endophytic fungi in forest trees: are they mutualists?Fungal Biology Reviews, 21, 75–89.
7.
GimenezC, CabreraR, ReinaM, Gonzalez-Coloma. (2007) Fungal endophytes and their role in plant protection. Current Organic Chemistry, 11, 707–720.
8.
YuanS, YanYC, LinHH. (2005) Plant regeneration through somatic embryogenesis from callus cultures of Dioscorea zingiberensis. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, 53, 107–112.
9.
XuL, ZhouL, ZhaoJ, LiJ, LiX, WangJ. (2008) Fungal endophytes from Dioscorea zingiberensis rhizomes and their antibacterial activity. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 46, 68–72.
10.
WedgeDE, NagleDG. (2000) A new 2D-TLC bioautography method for the discovery of novel antifungal agents to control plant pathogens. Journal of Natural Products, 63, 1050–1054.
11.
HamillRL, HiggensCE, BrazME, GormanM. (1969) The structure of beauvericin, a new depsipeptide antibiotic toxic to Artemia salina. Tetrahedron Letters, 49, 4255–4258.
12.
UhligS, IvanovaL. (2004) Determination of beauvericin and four other enniatins in grain by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Journal of Chromatography A, 1050, 173–178.
13.
KelemuS, WhiteJF, MunozF, TakayamaY. (2001) An endophyte of the tropical forage grass Brachiaria bizantha: isolating, identifying, and characterizing the fungus and determining its antimycotic properties. Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 47, 55–62.
14.
LogriecoA, MorettiA, CastellaG, KosteckiM, GolinskiP, RitieniA, ChelkowskiJ. (1998) Beauvericin production by Fusarium species. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 64, 3084–3088.
15.
WagnerBL, LewisLC. (2000) Colonization of corn, Zea mays, by the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 66, 68–73.
16.
MoyTI, BallAR, AnklesariaZ, CasadeiG, LewisK, AusubelFM. (2006) Identification of novel antimicrobials using a live-animal infection model. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of United States of America, 103, 10414–10419.
17.
ZhangL, YanK, ZhangY, HuangR, ChenX. (2007) High-throughput synergy screening identifies microbial metabolites as combination agents for the treatment of fungal infections. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of United States of America, 104, 4606–4611.
18.
CastleburyLA, SutherlandJB, TannerLA, HendersonAL, CernigliaCE. (1999) Use of a bioassay to evaluate the toxicity of beauvericin to bacteria. World Journal Microbiology & Biotechnology, 15, 119–121.
19.
LelandJE, BehleRW. (2005) Coating Beauveria bassiana with lignin for protection from solar radiation and effects on pathogenicity to Lygus lineolaris (Heteroptera: Miridae). Biocontrol Science and Technology, 15, 309–320.
20.
PioTF, MacedoGA. (2007) Optimizing the production of cutinase by Fusarium oxysporum using response surface methodology. Enzyme and Microbial Technology, 41, 613–619.
21.
BernasT, DobruckiJW. (2000) The role of plasma membrane in bioreduction of two tetrazolium salts, MTT, and CTC. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 380, 108–116.
