Mwendwa Peter K, Omwenga George Isanda, Maingi John M, Karanja Anncarol W
Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Biotechnology, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 22;15(1):17842. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-94864-8.
Endophytic fungi in medicinal plants aid in producing useful therapeutic compounds and enzymes. Among the most useful enzymes are cellulases. However, cellulase enzyme production in endophytic fungi of Azadirachta indica and Aloe secundiflora has not been comprehensively explored. The objective of this study was to; isolate and identify endophytic fungi from the leaves of young and mature plants of A. indica and A. secundiflora, determine colonization frequency of the endophytic fungi, and evaluate and optimize the cellulase production by the endophytic fungi on maize cob media. Eleven fungal endophytic isolates were obtained from the leaves of both A. secundiflora and A. indica, collected in Kitui and Kiambu Counties in total: Six from Kitui County and five from Kiambu County. Penicillium Sp. had highest colonization frequency in Kitui, while Candida sp. had highest in Kiambu. For enzyme optimization, isolates Candida boidinii, Galactomyces candidum, and Candida stellimalicola produced the highest amounts of Fpases and endoglucanases on third, sixth and ninth days. High exoglucanase producers were Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Galactomyces candidum, and Candida stellimalicola. The endophytic communities within the leaves of A. indica and A. secundiflora are diverse. Maize cob agrowaste media can be used to cultivate the production of cellulases successfully in fungal endophytic isolates of A. indica and A. secundiflora. The study concluded that the endophytes of A. indica and A. secundiflora can be harnessed and optimized to secrete cellulase enzymes for commercial use, and especially isolates G. candidum and C. stellimalicola which yield significantly high amounts of total cellulases, endoglucanases and exoglucanases.
药用植物中的内生真菌有助于产生有用的治疗化合物和酶。其中最有用的酶是纤维素酶。然而，印楝和二歧芦荟内生真菌中纤维素酶的产生尚未得到全面研究。本研究的目的是：从印楝和二歧芦荟幼嫩和成熟植株的叶片中分离和鉴定内生真菌，确定内生真菌的定殖频率，并评估和优化内生真菌在玉米芯培养基上的纤维素酶产量。从基图伊县和基安布县采集的印楝和二歧芦荟叶片中共获得11株真菌内生分离株：6株来自基图伊县，5株来自基安布县。青霉属在基图伊定殖频率最高，而念珠菌属在基安布最高。在酶优化方面，博伊丁假丝酵母、白色半知酵母和星状念珠菌分离株在第3天、第6天和第9天产生的滤纸酶和内切葡聚糖酶量最高。外切葡聚糖酶高产菌株是胶孢炭疽菌、白色半知酵母和星状念珠菌。印楝和二歧芦荟叶片中的内生菌群是多样的。玉米芯农业废料培养基可用于成功培养印楝和二歧芦荟真菌内生分离株的纤维素酶。该研究得出结论，印楝和二歧芦荟的内生菌可被利用和优化，以分泌用于商业用途的纤维素酶，特别是白色半知酵母和星状念珠菌分离株，它们产生的总纤维素酶、内切葡聚糖酶和外切葡聚糖酶量显著较高。
