Antibacterial activity of endophytic fungus isolated from Cyathodium cavernarum Kunze ex Lehm.
Tess Babu, Meenu Mathew, Meenu Elizabath Benny, Savithri L., and Abraham Mathew*
Bryology Division, PG and Research Department of Botany, St. Peter’s College, Kolenchery - 682311 (India) * abrphyton@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Bryophytes are a group of non-vascular plants that include mosses, liverworts and hornworts. They are indeed the third largest group in the plant kingdom but have not received much attention with only pint-size research work going on due to their small size and difficulty in taxa identification. Many bryophytes form a mutualistic relationship with other microorganisms. These endophytes are capable of promoting the growth as well as the production of several metabolites that offer resistance to the host. Cyathodium is a fluorescently green liverwort found in wet and shady areas. The present study deals with isolation and characterisation of endophytic fungi from Cyathodium and evaluating their antibacterial activity against 4 bacterial species, Proteus vulgaris, Bacillus subtilis, Listeria monocytogenes and Xanthomonas campestris.