Optimizing the Culture Medium of Lasiodiplodia sp. to Improve the Yield of Ethyl Acetate Extract as an Antimicrobial Source.

Endophytes often inhabit plant tissues and cause no disease symptoms. Lasiodiplodia is generally considered a pathogenic fungus, but such a genus is capable of producing high-value bioactive molecules, such as enzymes, secondary metabolites including antimicrobials. Therefore, Lasiodiplodia sp. endophyte was cultivated in static mode for 12 days and EtOAc extracts were obtained and evaluated against pathogens afterward. Fermentation parameters (glucose, sucrose and NaNO3) were optimized by the factorial design and response surface methodology, as these are powerful tools to provide reliable information about fungal culture conditions and EtOAc extract yields were considered as response variables. Lasiodiplodia growth curve indicated that optimal production of EtOAc extract mass was achieved after 12 days of fermentation (284 mg 300 mL-1 broth), which is in agreement with values obtained from validation tests. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Microbicidal Concentration (MMC) essays suggested that the endophyte produce substances presenting antimicrobial and antifungal activities against ATCC Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans strains at optimum point under evaluated conditions. MIC values ranged between 50 and 100 µg mL-1 for both pathogens, while MMC of C. albicans ranged from 100 to 200 µg mL-1, which evidence its fungicidal effect. Furthermore, it was found that the EtOAc extract yield can be increased by optimizing carbon and nitrogen sources in endophyte cultivation, and there was good agreement between predicted and experimental values under optimized conditions. Thus, Lasiodiplodia fungi are promising sources of antimicrobials and changes in carbon and nitrogen sources can improve the yield of secondary metabolites according to the factorial design.