Abstract
The present study explores the potential of 12 endophytic fungi isolated from rhizomes of Curcuma caesia for their antibacterial, anti-obesity and cytotoxic properties. Amongst them, the ethyl acetate (EA) residues of only two endophytic fungi CcR3 and CcR8 exhibited antibacterial activities with a zone of inhibition (ZOI) ranging between 11.5 to 27.74 mm in agar well diffusion assay and a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranging between 3.9 to 125 mg/ml respectively against the spectrum of tested microorganisms. Similarly, the spent broth of three endophytic fungi (CcR3, CcR8 and CcR10), when evaluated for their pancreatic lipase (PL) inhibitory activities, displayed 59.36 -94.39% inhibi-tion of PL in rhodamine and phenol red plate assays. The EA residue of CcR8 exhibited 97.58% inhibi-tion of PL with an IC50 value of 3.09 mg/ml, that was quite comparable to inhibition shown by only antiobesity drug in market Orlistat (IC50 = 2.81 mg/ml). Furthermore, the EA residue of three endo-phytic fungi (CcR3, CcR5 and CcR8) showed strong cytotoxic properties (55.09 -77.57%) against breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 under tested in vitro conditions.. Based on taxonomic studies, the most bioac-tive endophytic fungus CcR8, possessing antimicrobial, anti cancer and anti obesity property was iden-tified as Bipolaris axonopicola. This is the first report of Bipolaris axonopicola exhibiting such properties. cytotoxic. The GCMS-analysis of the EA fraction revealed the presence of majorly three compounds n-Hexadecanoic acid, 1,14-Tetradecanediol and an unknown compound. Molecular docking studies revealed that n-Hexadecanoic acid (-5.2 kcal/mol) binds with high affinity to human lipase than Orli-stat (-4.9 kcal/mol), thereby inhibiting the enzyme to a greater extent. Similarly, the binding capacity of n-Hexadecanoic acid (-7.5 kcal/mol) to histone deacetylase is greater than Varinostat (-6.9 kcal/ mol), a well-known anticancer drug.(c) 2023 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.