The endophyte Aspergillus nidulans isolated from the traditionally used oral ailments
preventive plant Acacia nilotica was effective in treating oral Candida albicans. The results
obtained conclude that the compounds of Aspergillus nidulans particularly flavonoids could
be used for the prevention of oral Candida infections and their biofilm-mediated diseases.
This study provides a scope for exploration of the active compounds of the endophyte to be
used as a lead drug against Candida albicans.
Aspergillus nidulans, an endophytic fungus isolated from the medicinal plant Acacia nilotica showed potent antifungal activity against oral pathogenic strains of Candida albicans. Biofilm forming Candida albicans was isolated and tested for its susceptibility to various solvent extracts of Aspergillus nidulans using biofilm inhibition assay. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis was performed to identify the potential compounds in the endophytic fungal extract and mode of interaction of these compounds with the target enzyme of Candida albicans was revealed using molecular docking analysis. All the solvent extracts showed good inhibitory activity on the biofilm forming Candida albicans strain with maximum activity in the chloroform extract. The percentage reduction in biofilm inhibition for chloroform, ethyl acetate, hexane and methanol extracts were 74.86%, 72.53%, 60.61% and 52.60% respectively. GC-MS analysis of chloroform extract revealed the presence of flavonoids, fatty acids, amides etc. of which the flavonoids - saltillin, taxifolin and 6-methoxyflavone showed good binding interaction with the Candida albicans growth regulator N-myristoyltransferase (NMT). The bioactive compounds present in Aspergillus nidulans not only inhibit Candida albicans growth but also controls the biofilm formation thereby reducing the virulence of Candida albicans.
Key words: Keywords: endophytic fungi; biofilm; GC-MS; flavonoids; molecular docking.
|
