Evaluation of secondary metabolites from mangrove associated fungi Meyerozyma guilliermondii

Background: Mangrove associated fungi are the second most diverse organisms that remain less explored. Cytotoxic and antibacterial activities of foliar fungus Meyerozyma guilliermondii were investigated. Methods: Foliar fungus was isolated from the leaves of Rhizophora mucronata collected from Pichavaram mangrove forest, Tamilnadu. Extracts from liquid state culture were tested for cytotoxicity against two cancer cell lines using the MTT assay. Antibacterial activity was determined using the well diffusion method. The DNA was isolated from the fungi, and the ITS region of 5.8s RNA was sequenced. The spectral properties (GC/MS) of the purified compounds were determined. Results: The ethyl acetate extracts showed potent cytotoxicity against Hep2 and human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cell lines with IC50 values of 1.25 and 0.625 μg/ml, respectively. Antibacterial activity of the fungal extract was demonstrated against five test organisms. The fungus was found to be a new strain based on ITS sequence and database in NCBI Blast tool. Conclusion: Results indicate the potential for production of bioactive agents from mangrove foliar fungi.