Diversity and phylogeny of resveratrol-producing culturable endophytic fungi from Vitis species in India.

In the present study, resveratrol producing culturable endophytes were recovered from the Indian vineyards. Of the 145 endophytic fungi recovered, only 30.3% were positive for resveratrol production in the preliminary screening. Culture broth of only 13 isolates exhibited the actual presence of resveratrol in the range of 4.4-52.3 μg/ml by HPLC quantification. The most potent endophytic isolate producing the highest extracellular resveratrol was #19VVLPM isolated from the Pinot Noir variety. Further LC-MS analysis confirmed the similarity of fungal resveratrol with standard resveratrol. The Merlot variety exhibited the highest colonization frequency of the resveratrol-producing fungal endophytes. Using morphological methods as well as molecular phylogeny #19VVLPM was identified as Fusarium equiseti. It is a promising candidate for further development into a commercial strain.