Objective: To isolate and identify endophytic fungi from Malus sieboldii, and detect cytotoxicity, protease inhibition and antifungal activities of their crude extracts.
Method: The fungi were identified with the aid of morphology or Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) rDNA molecular methods. Fungal activities were tested by cylinder-plate, MTT and BRpNA methods, respectively.
Result: A total of 217 endophytic fungi were isolated from M. sieboldii. Of the 22 taxa obtained, non-sporulating, Alternaria, Colletotrichum, Aspergillu, Fusarlum, Gliocladium and Cunninghamella were dominant communities. The result of the bioactivity test showed that 30 endophytic fungi displayed inhibition against at least one pathogenic fungus, and 3 and 4 showed cytotoxicity and protease inhibition, respectively.
Conclusion: M. sieboldii should be a potential source of bioactive endophytic fungi.