Background:

Endophytic fungi isolated from medicinal plants are an important source of secondary metabolites with biotechnological potential.

Objectives:

To identify the fungi present in the leaves and fruits of Manilkara zapota and to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of their extracts.

Methods:

Endophytic fungi were isolated from fruits and leaves of M. zapota and cultivated in growth media. Antibacterial activity of 1:1 chloroform-methanol crude extracts was evaluated in antibacterial assays with pathogenic microorganisms. The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations and the percentage of growth inhibition with pathogenic bacteria were calculated for the extract that showed the highest activity, as well as the percentage of fungal inhibition against phytopathogenic fungi.

Results and conclusions:

Twenty endophytic fungal isolates were obtained, and nine different genera were identified associated with M. zapota: Curvularia, Daldinia, Diaporthe, Epicoccum, Geotrichum, Neopestalotiopsis, Pestalotiopsis, Sistotrema and Stereum. The biomass extract of Curvularia sp. CIMA-116B showed the best results of antibacterial activity. Moreover, it showed inhibitory activity with Clavibacter michiganensis, Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli and low antifungal activity with Colletotrichum musae, Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Fusarium solani. These results show the importance of endophytic fungi as a bioactive metabolites source with antimicrobial activity.

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