Lovastatin-producing endophytic fungus isolated from a medicinal plant Solanum xanthocarpum.
Lovastatin is a potent drug for lowering blood cholesterol. An endophytic fungus Phomopsis vexans was isolated from the healthy leaf tissues of Solanum xanthocarpum, a medicinal plant, and screened for lovastatin production. The fungus was identified by their characteristic cultural morphology and molecular analysis. The strain had a component with the same TLC Rf value and HPLC retention time as authentic lovastatin. The presence of lovastatin was further confirmed by FT-IR, UV, (1)H, (13)C NMR and LC-MS analyses. The amount of lovastatin produced by this endophytic fungus was quantified to be 550 mg/L, and thus the fungus can serve as a potential material to improve the production of lovastatin.
a Department of Plant Science , Bharathidasan University , Tiruchirappalli , Tamil Nadu , India.
Ramalingam
R
Parthasarathy
a Department of Plant Science , Bharathidasan University , Tiruchirappalli , Tamil Nadu , India.
Muthukrishnan
M
Sathiyabama
D001203:Ascomycota / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D060026:Endophytes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008148:Lovastatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000382:microbiology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000382:microbiology; D032322:Solanum / Q000382:microbiology*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
D008148:Lovastatin
Phomopsis vexans; Solanum xanthocarpum; endophytic fungus; lovastatin