Diversification of Eupatorium buniifolium essential oil composition by endophytic fungi

CECATI FM; MAGALLANES-NOGUERA C; ARDANAZ CE; TONN CE; KURINA SANZ MB

Buzios

Simposio; VII Workshop on Biocatalysis and Biotransformation. 1Simposio Latinoamericano de Biocatálisis y Biotransformaciones; 2014

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

INTRODUCTION Eupatorium buniifolium essential oil (EO) has repellent activity toward plague insects, but its potential use as a biopesticide is limited by the volatility of its major components (D-limonene and alfa-pinene). A rising in the oxygenation degree would enhance the bioactivity of EOs against insects, mainly by increasing their persistence; thus improving their chances of controlling plagues affecting crops and human health. Endophytic microorganisms are able to survive the pressure of allelopathic compounds synthesized by their host plants, so they could be competent biological agents to biotransform EOs. Herein we present a survey about the biocatalytic potential of endophytic fungi (EFs) toward E. buniifolium EO and its main monoterpene components. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION E. buniifolium EO was obtained by hydro- distillation of wild fresh plants and characterized by GC-MS using micro extraction methods. EFs were isolated from stems and leaves of E. buniifolium specimens according to Rodriguez et al. Their biotransformation abilities were screened by resting cell procedures toward D-limonene, alfa-pinene and the EO. Three filamentous fungi strains were selected and characterized by the sequence of their ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region and D1/D2 domain of the LSU rRNA gene. Singularities in the oxygenase activity of each of the isolated EFs were observed. Seven new oxygenated monoterpenes were detected reaching up to the 37 % of the relative area of the bio-diversified EO. Characterization was performed by MS-MS analysis. CONCLUSION Entophytic microorganisms are useful biotechnological tools to diversify essential oil chemical composition, mainly by increasing the oxygenation degree. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS UNSL (PROICO 2-1412); CONICET (PIP 2012-360) y ANPCyT (PICT 2011-1416)