Antimicrobial activity of green silver nanoparticles from endophytic fungi isolated from Calotropis procera (Ait) latex

Abstract

Endophytes, a potential source of bioactive secondary metabolites, were isolated from the widely used medicinal plant <i>Calotropis procera</i> Ait. Approximately 675 segments from 15 <i>Calotropis procera</i> plants and 15 latex samples were assessed for the presence of endophytic fungi. Finally, eight fungal species were isolated and identified based on their macro- and micro-morphology. The endophytic fungal filtrates were screened for their antimicrobial activity against 11 important pathogenic micro-organisms. The filtrates of nanoparticles were from three of the eight isolated endophytic fungi, namely, <i>Penicillium chrysogenum, Aspergillus fumigatus</i> and <i>Aspergillus flavus</i>, and were highly effective against the tested bacteria, while the remaining endophytic fungal filtrates displayed low activity.