Evaluation and Enhancement of Bioactive Compounds of Aspergillus terreus Endophyte Isolated from Neem by Gamma Irradiation

Abd Eltawab, Eman Elsayed; Shetaia, Yousseria Mohamed; El-Mongy, Tarek Mahmoud; Abd El Aziz, Amany Badr El-Deen

doi:10.21608/ejchem.2023.219348.8175

Evaluation and Enhancement of Bioactive Compounds of Aspergillus terreus Endophyte Isolated from Neem by Gamma Irradiation

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Radiation microbiology, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, National Center for Radiation Research and Technology, Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo, Egypt

² Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

³ Radiation Microbiology Dept., National Centre for Radiation Research and Technology (NCRRT), Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA), Cairo, Egypt

⁴ Radiation Microbiology Dept., National Centre for Radiation Research and Technology (NCRRT), Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA), Cairo, Egypt.

10.21608/ejchem.2023.219348.8175

Abstract

The quest for new bioactive compounds from natural origins is continuously growing. In this study, Nine endophytic fungi were isolated and identified morphologically from healthy parts of the Azadirachta indica (neem) medicinal plant, and their crude extracts were evaluated for antimicrobial effectiveness against 12 pathogenic microorganisms, including bacteria, unicellular yeasts, and multicellular fungi. The cell-free filtrates were recovered using chloroform, diethyl ether, and ethyl acetate solvents. Ethyl acetate extraction of endophytic fungus E3 exhibited the highest antimicrobial activities using the response surface approach. The isolate was molecularly identified as Aspergillus terreus and deposited in the gene bank under accession number ON532722. In addition, the GC-MS analysis of normal and Gamma Irradiated A. terreus ethyl acetate crude extracts indicated the presence of 32 main bioactive components with diverse medicinal properties that demonstrate antioxidant scavenging activities of the DPPH free radical with an IC50 of 85.5 ± 3.62 µg/ml and 37.5 ±1.48 µg/ml for the normal and gamma-irradiated isolate respectively. Moreover, the bioactive substances demonstrated promising anticancer efficacy against human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG-2) and lung carcinoma (A-549) with IC50 values of 20.74± 1.08 µg/ml, 26.89 ± 1.63 µg/ml, 48.91 ± 3.85µg/ml and 30.95 ± 1.97 µg/ml towards normal and irradiated fungal extract, respectively.

Keywords