Antifungal Activities of Volatile Secondary Metabolites of Four Strains Isolated from .

Four endophytic fungi were isolated from the medicinal plant, , and were identified as spp. with partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (), beta-tubulin (), histone H3 (), calmodulin () genes, and rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (-----ITS) multigene phylogeny suggested for species delimitation in the genus. Each fungus produces a unique mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with an abundant mixture of terpenoids analyzed by headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber-GC/MS. These tentatively-detected terpenes included α-muurolene, β-phellandrene, γ-terpinene, and α-thujene, as well as other minor terpenoids, including caryophyllene, patchoulene, cedrene, 2-carene, and thujone. The volatile metabolites of each isolate showed antifungal properties against a wide range of plant pathogenic test fungi and oomycetes, including , , , , and The growth inhibition of the pathogens varied between 10% and 60% within 72 h of exposure. To our knowledge, the endophytic -like strains are first reported from . VOCs produced by each strain of the endophytic fungi were unique components with dominant monoterpenes comparing to known fungal VOCs. A discussion is presented on the inhibitive bioactivities of secondary metabolites among endophytic fungi and this medicinal plant.