BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF ETHYL ACETATE EXTRACTS OF FUNGI FUSARIUM CAMPTOCERAS WOLENW AND REINKING AND ASPERGILLUS FLOCCULOSUS FRISVARD AND SAMSON ISOLATED FROM MARINE ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

Marine fungi have become an important source of pharmacologically active metabolites. Ethyl acetate extracts from the marine fungi Fusarium camptoceras and Aspergillus flocculosus were tested for antibacterial, antifungal, phototoxic, and toxic activity against Artemia franciscana. The fungi were cultivated under static conditions in CYA agar for 14 days at 27 ± 1°C; then, 300 mL of ethyl acetate (100 %) were added to the fungi, which were left alone for seven days in order to guarantee a complete extraction. The ethyl acetate extracts of both fungi showed important antibacterial activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria with inhibition halos that reached a diameter of 30 mm. There was no phototoxic activity and antifungal activity was observed only in the A. flocculosus extract against Candida albicans, with inhibition halos 16.3 ± 0.15 mm in diameter. Both extracts showed a toxic effect on A. franciscana, with a CL 50 of 29.2 μg/mL for F. camptoceras and of 16.6 μg/mL for A. flocculosus. The qualitative chemical analysis showed the presence of alkaloids, unsaturated sterols, and pentacyclic triterpenes in both fungi species. This preliminary study highlights the potential of fungal extracts as a source of secondary metabolites useful in modern medicine due to their antimicrobial and cytotoxic properties. The study also lays the bases for incorporating marine fungi from the tropics into the selection programs as drug-producing organisms with possible innovative mechanisms of action.