Abstract

Endophytic fungi have been shown to be a promising source of novel antimicrobial moieties. This study was carried out to determine the antimicrobial profile of the endophytic fungal isolates from Acalypha wilkesiana. The leaves of A. wilkesiana was washed in running water, sterilized and then inoculated onto freshly prepared Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA). The pure isolates were then subjected to solid state fermentation using rice medium. This was followed by the extraction of the product of fermentation using Ethyl acetate and the extracts were concentrated using rotary evaporator set at 500C. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts was then evaluated against the clinical isolates: Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtillis, Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus. A total of five (5) endophytic fungal isolates were obtained from the leaf sample, identified by their unique colony morphology and were labeled M1, M2, M3, L2 and L3. The endophytic fungal extracts showed varying degree of antimicrobial activities against the clinical isolates with all the extracts showing more potent antimicrobial activities against the clinical isolates than the known antibiotics at the concentration of 1 mg/mL. The results of this study suggest that A. wilkesiana have antimicrobial activity and further studies should be carried out to identify the endophyes to species level as well as the bioactive compounds responsible for this activity it elicits.