Chemical composition, antifungal and antitumor properties of ether extracts of Scapania verrucosa Heeg. and its endophytic fungus Chaetomium fusiforme.

An endophytic fungus Chaetomium fusiforme was obtained from a liverwort, Scapania verrucosa. A comparison of the constituents of the ether extracts between S. verrucosa and the C. fusiforme culture was investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The yield of ether extract based on dried plant material was 0.6% and 59 compounds were found in S. verrucosa. (+)-Aromadendrene (9.12%), hexadecanoic acid (6.92%), 6-isopropenyl-4,8a-dimethyl-1,2,3,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-naphthalen-2-ol (5.97%), s-tetrachloroethane (5.61%) and acetic acid (5.30%) were found to be the most abundant components among the 49 characterized compounds in S. verrucosa, which represented 84.64% of the total extract. However, the constituents of the cultured endophyte extract contained mainly acetic acid (35.05%), valeric acid, 3-methyl-, methyl ester (21.25%), and butane-2, 3-diol (12.24%). Although the extracts of S. verrucosa and its endophyte showed little chemical composition correlation, both of them demonstrated antifungal and antitumor activities. Furthermore, C. fusiforme has displayed a wider range of antimicrobial and antitumor activities, which were better than the host plant. These results could support the suggestion of endophytes as an alternative of the host for medicinal activity.