Bioprospecting extracts of plants and endophytic fungi for their antifungal and antifeedancy activity
Student name: Ms Radhika Sinha
Guide: Dr Chaithanya Madhurantakam
Year of completion: 2015
Host Organisation: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Nutan Kaushik
Abstract: Nowadays, biopesticides are the need of the hour as chemical pesticides are not only hazardous to the environment and human health but the pests are also developing resistance towards them. Considerable percentage of crop yield is lost annually due to pest infestations in land as well as in storage. Many plants produce secondary metabolites which are toxic to the pests. Along with the plant, the endophytes residing in them also produce such bioactive compounds that have the potential to be used as biopesticides. Endophytes already isolated from medicinal plants were subjected to extraction of their secondary metabolites using solvents of different polarity, ethyl acetate, methanol, hexane and butanol in different media. The extracts obtained from the endophytes, plants (Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata), and Bollcure along with ZnO in various concentrations were screened against plant pathogenic fungus- Rhizoctinia solani, Fusarium oxysporum, Botrytis cinera, Fusarium graminearum and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The extracts were also screened against polyphagous insects- Plutella xylostella (Diamond back moth) and Spodoptera litura (oriental leaf worm moth) for their antifeedancy. The endophytic extracts were also qualitatively analyzed through HPLC. Although much significant results were not obtained, nevertheless, endophytes and plant extracts still remain an untapped resource and they need to be bioprospected for their pesticidal activity.
KEYWORDS: biopesticide, Jatropha, Pongamia, Plutella xylostella, Spodoptera litura
