La compréhension de la structure génétique et de la dynamique des populations, ainsi que les mécanismes moléculaires régissant les interactions entre l’hôte et le pathogène sont des éléments clefs pour la gestion des maladies. Au cours de cette étude nous avons cherché à développer dans un premier temps des marqueurs microsatellites à partir de données issues du séquençage d’un isolat de Ganoderma boninense. Ces marqueurs microsatellites nous ont permis d’étudier la structuration génétique et l’histoire démographique de G. boninense. Le génotypage d’un sous-échantillonnage issus de missions de récolte en Malaisie et à Sumatra nous a permis de mettre en évidence deux groupes principaux au sein de l’Asie du Sud-Est. Nous avons ensuite concentré notre attention sur la région regroupant la Malaisie péninsulaire et l’île de Sumatra, zone historique de développement de la culture industrielle du palmier à huile et d’apparition de la pourriture basale du stipe due à G. boninense, qui semble former une seule population. Nous avons examiné à une échelle géographique plus restreinte cette zone géographique afin de mettre en évidence une potentielle sous structure au sein de cette population. En testant l’effet du fond génétique du palmier d’origine de chaque individu, du nombre de génération de palmier précédent le moment de la récolte de l’individu, ou de la distance géographique sur une possible sous-structure des individus au sein de la zone historique, nous avons mis en évidence qu’aucune sous-structure génétique n’émergeait. En revanche, La comparaison de plusieurs scénarios d’évolution démographique a permis de mettre en évidence un phénomène d’expansion très ancien bien antérieur au début du développement de la culture industrielle du palmier à huile. Pour finir, la comparaison des données transcriptomiques entre des isolats agressifs et non agressifs a permis de souligner la présence d’une centaine de gènes différentiellement exprimés possédant une annotation fonctionnelle. Les résultats de ces deux approches pourront permettre une meilleure gestion de la maladie ainsi que l’amélioration des programmes développement et de gestion des résistances. / The understanding of genetic structuration and population dynamic, as well as the molecular mechanisms ruling host/pathogen interaction, are key elements for disease management. During this study, as first step, we were looking to develop microsatellites markers from genomic data obtained from sequencing of a Ganoderma boninense pure strain. Those markers allowed studying genetic structuration and demographic history of G. boninense. Genotyping of a subset of samples from sampling mission in Malaysia and Sumatra have highlighted two main groups in South-East Asia. Then, we focused on a region gathering peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra together, as it is both historical region of industrial oil palm culture development and the first region of basal stem rot observation caused by G. boninense, and to appear as a single population. We examine this region at a lower scale in order to highlight a potential genetic substructure in this population. We tested for effect of genetic tree background of each sample, number of planting generation before sampling and geographical distance between sample in order to observe a potential correlation between genetic substructure and one of those factors. As no correlation appeared, we concluded that this population does not have a genetic substructure. On the other hand, the comparison between several demographic evolution scenarios have shown a strong support for a past expansion event further back in time from the beginning of industrial oil palm culture development. To conclude, the exploration of transcriptomic data between strains owning aggressive or non-aggressive profile showed the differential expression of a hundred genes owning a functional annotation. Results from both approaches will allow the development of better disease management and a better resistance selection and management program.

Na literatura encontram-se referências de estudos envolvendo micro-organismos endofíticos, e mais recentemente estudos que avaliam a interação entre micro-organismos o que resulta na modificação, no tipo ou quantidade dos compostos que são produzidos. Neste trabalho foram realizados cultivos simples e mistos do fungo Colletotrichum boninense FLe 8.1 e da actinobacteria Streptomyces albospinus RLe 7, endófiticos isolados de Lychnophora ericoides que pertencem à coleção do Laboratório de Química de Microorganismos (LQMo) da FCFRP-USP, com o objetivo de aumentar suas capacidades de produção de novos compostos com atividade biológica. O cultivo misto, ou co-cultivo, é uma estratégia que tem sido usada para o acesso aos produtos naturais de origem microbiana. Existem poucos relatos de compostos com atividade biológica isolados a partir de S. albospinus e não há relatos de metabólitos secundários obtidos a partir de C. boninense. Nenhum desses micro-organismos tem sido descrito como endofítico na literatura e não existem relatos sobre co-cultivos envolvendo qualquer um deles na busca de compostos bioativos. Juntando as informações geradas através das diferentes técnicas de detecção utilizadas, como TLC, HPLC-DAD, GC-MS, ESI-MS, RMN e depois da análise correspondente, foi possível identificar e atribuir as estruturas de algumas substâncias conhecidas de origem microbiana como a mevalonolactona, o tirosol, a fisostigmina, a desferrioxamina E. ESI-MS foi utilizada para análises dos extratos brutos originados dos cultivos em meio arroz parbolizado permitindo visualizar compostos produzidos em baixas quantidades pelos micro-organismos na cultura simples quanto na co-cultura. Além disso, foram obtidos os perfis metabólicos desses micro-organismos a partir de cultivos em placa de Petri, possibilitando a detecção dos metabólitos em regiões específicas da interação microbiana, o que conduziu à identificação da fisostigmina e o seu análogo N-etilcarbamato produzidos pela actinobactéria, na interação com o fungo. Análises posteriores de MS sequencial permitiram obter perfis de fragmentação, os quais, juntamente com os dados dos íons detectados nos extratos, foram comparados com a informação disponível em bases de dados como DNP, METLIN e MassBank. Tais informações geradas a partir dessas análises permitiram sugerir possíveis compostos envolvidos na interação dos micro-organismos endofíticos mencionados. Foi sugerido que a fisostigmina, substância produzida pela actinobactéria S. albospinus RLe 7 e isolada nesse trabalho, poderia ter algum papel na inibição do crescimento do fungo C. boninense FLe 8.1 já que a inibição só foi observada quando cultivados ambos os micro-organismos na mesma placa de Petri. Porém, bioensaios com fisostigmina pura demonstraram que essa substância não possui atividade antifúngica per se, mas é possível que exista uma sinergia com outras substancias produzidas pela actinobactéria. Os resultados apresentados nesse trabalho demonstram a importância do uso de técnicas de detecção muito sensíveis, como a ESI-MS, na identificação de substâncias envolvidas na troca metabólica e permitiram gerar informações que serão utilizadas em estudos futuros utilizando esses micro-organismos endofíticos. / There are several studies involving endophytic microorganisms, and more recently some studies evaluate microbial interaction resulting in metabolic profiles modifications. In this study, simple and mixed cultures of the fungus Colletotrichum boninense FLe 8.1 and the actinobacteria Streptomyces albospinus RLe 7 were carried out. These endophytic microorganisms, isolated from Lychnophora ericoides, belong to the collection of the Laboratory of Microbial Chemistry (LQMo) of the FCFRP-USP. The main goal of this work was to increase the bioactive compounds production capacities. Co-culture, or mixed culture, is a recent strategy for accessing microbial natural products. There are few reports of bioactive metabolites from S. albospinus RLe 7 and there are no one about secondary metabolites obtained from C. boninense FLe 8.1. Neither the actinobacteria nor the fungus have been described as endophytic microorganisms and there are no co-culture studies involving these microorganisms in order to obtain natural products. Joining and analyzing all together the generated information from several detection techniques, such as TLC, HPLCDAD, GC-MS, ESI-MS, NMR, it was possible to identify and attribute the chemical structures of some known natural, such as mevalonolactone, tyrosol, physostigmine and deferrioxamine E. ESI-MS was used for extracts analysis from cultures in parboiled rice medium, allowing visualization of compounds produced in very low yields. Besides that, it was possible to obtain metabolic profiles from cultures in Petri dishes, leading to the detection of metabolites in specific regions of the microbial interaction. Physostigmine and its N-ethylcarbamate analogue were identified as actinobacteria metabolites in the interaction against the fungus. Posterior analysis by MS/MS allowed to obtain fragmentation profiles, which together with the ions detected from the extracts analysis, were compared by searching in databases, such as DNP, METLIN and MassBank. Such information allowed to suggest possible candidates for the compounds involved in the microbial metabolic exchange. It was hypothesized that physostigmine, isolated from the actinobacteria in this work, had a role in the fungal growth inhibition observed when both microorganisms were co-cultured. However, this substance did not show considerable antifungal activity when tested against C. boninense FLe 8.1, but it is possible that other compounds produced by this actinobacteria are acting in a synergistic way. The results showed here demonstrated the importance of very sensitive techniques, as ESI-MS, in the identification of molecules involved in the microbial metabolic exchange and will help in the generation of information for future studies involving those endophytic microorganisms.

Na literatura encontram-se referências de estudos envolvendo micro-organismos endofíticos, e mais recentemente estudos que avaliam a interação entre micro-organismos o que resulta na modificação, no tipo ou quantidade dos compostos que são produzidos. Neste trabalho foram realizados cultivos simples e mistos do fungo Colletotrichum boninense FLe 8.1 e da actinobacteria Streptomyces albospinus RLe 7, endófiticos isolados de Lychnophora ericoides que pertencem à coleção do Laboratório de Química de Microorganismos (LQMo) da FCFRP-USP, com o objetivo de aumentar suas capacidades de produção de novos compostos com atividade biológica. O cultivo misto, ou co-cultivo, é uma estratégia que tem sido usada para o acesso aos produtos naturais de origem microbiana. Existem poucos relatos de compostos com atividade biológica isolados a partir de S. albospinus e não há relatos de metabólitos secundários obtidos a partir de C. boninense. Nenhum desses micro-organismos tem sido descrito como endofítico na literatura e não existem relatos sobre co-cultivos envolvendo qualquer um deles na busca de compostos bioativos. Juntando as informações geradas através das diferentes técnicas de detecção utilizadas, como TLC, HPLC-DAD, GC-MS, ESI-MS, RMN e depois da análise correspondente, foi possível identificar e atribuir as estruturas de algumas substâncias conhecidas de origem microbiana como a mevalonolactona, o tirosol, a fisostigmina, a desferrioxamina E. ESI-MS foi utilizada para análises dos extratos brutos originados dos cultivos em meio arroz parbolizado permitindo visualizar compostos produzidos em baixas quantidades pelos micro-organismos na cultura simples quanto na co-cultura. Além disso, foram obtidos os perfis metabólicos desses micro-organismos a partir de cultivos em placa de Petri, possibilitando a detecção dos metabólitos em regiões específicas da interação microbiana, o que conduziu à identificação da fisostigmina e o seu análogo N-etilcarbamato produzidos pela actinobactéria, na interação com o fungo. Análises posteriores de MS sequencial permitiram obter perfis de fragmentação, os quais, juntamente com os dados dos íons detectados nos extratos, foram comparados com a informação disponível em bases de dados como DNP, METLIN e MassBank. Tais informações geradas a partir dessas análises permitiram sugerir possíveis compostos envolvidos na interação dos micro-organismos endofíticos mencionados. Foi sugerido que a fisostigmina, substância produzida pela actinobactéria S. albospinus RLe 7 e isolada nesse trabalho, poderia ter algum papel na inibição do crescimento do fungo C. boninense FLe 8.1 já que a inibição só foi observada quando cultivados ambos os micro-organismos na mesma placa de Petri. Porém, bioensaios com fisostigmina pura demonstraram que essa substância não possui atividade antifúngica per se, mas é possível que exista uma sinergia com outras substancias produzidas pela actinobactéria. Os resultados apresentados nesse trabalho demonstram a importância do uso de técnicas de detecção muito sensíveis, como a ESI-MS, na identificação de substâncias envolvidas na troca metabólica e permitiram gerar informações que serão utilizadas em estudos futuros utilizando esses micro-organismos endofíticos. / There are several studies involving endophytic microorganisms, and more recently some studies evaluate microbial interaction resulting in metabolic profiles modifications. In this study, simple and mixed cultures of the fungus Colletotrichum boninense FLe 8.1 and the actinobacteria Streptomyces albospinus RLe 7 were carried out. These endophytic microorganisms, isolated from Lychnophora ericoides, belong to the collection of the Laboratory of Microbial Chemistry (LQMo) of the FCFRP-USP. The main goal of this work was to increase the bioactive compounds production capacities. Co-culture, or mixed culture, is a recent strategy for accessing microbial natural products. There are few reports of bioactive metabolites from S. albospinus RLe 7 and there are no one about secondary metabolites obtained from C. boninense FLe 8.1. Neither the actinobacteria nor the fungus have been described as endophytic microorganisms and there are no co-culture studies involving these microorganisms in order to obtain natural products. Joining and analyzing all together the generated information from several detection techniques, such as TLC, HPLCDAD, GC-MS, ESI-MS, NMR, it was possible to identify and attribute the chemical structures of some known natural, such as mevalonolactone, tyrosol, physostigmine and deferrioxamine E. ESI-MS was used for extracts analysis from cultures in parboiled rice medium, allowing visualization of compounds produced in very low yields. Besides that, it was possible to obtain metabolic profiles from cultures in Petri dishes, leading to the detection of metabolites in specific regions of the microbial interaction. Physostigmine and its N-ethylcarbamate analogue were identified as actinobacteria metabolites in the interaction against the fungus. Posterior analysis by MS/MS allowed to obtain fragmentation profiles, which together with the ions detected from the extracts analysis, were compared by searching in databases, such as DNP, METLIN and MassBank. Such information allowed to suggest possible candidates for the compounds involved in the microbial metabolic exchange. It was hypothesized that physostigmine, isolated from the actinobacteria in this work, had a role in the fungal growth inhibition observed when both microorganisms were co-cultured. However, this substance did not show considerable antifungal activity when tested against C. boninense FLe 8.1, but it is possible that other compounds produced by this actinobacteria are acting in a synergistic way. The results showed here demonstrated the importance of very sensitive techniques, as ESI-MS, in the identification of molecules involved in the microbial metabolic exchange and will help in the generation of information for future studies involving those endophytic microorganisms.

A antracnose é uma das doenças mais importantes do pimentão em vários países. Por muitos anos, somente C. gloeosporioides foi relatado como agente causal da antracnose desta cultura no Brasil. Entretanto, recentemente C. acutatum e C. capsici também tem sido associados a esta doença em algumas regiões do país. Neste trabalho, 56 isolados de Colletotrichum obtidos de pimentão e procedentes de diferentes regiões produtoras do país foram caracterizados e identificados por meio de algumas características morfológicas e culturais, e pela análise por PCR utilizando oligonucleotídeos espécie-específicos. Isolados representativos de cada espécie identificada na população amostrada também foram caracterizados quanto à patogenicidade em frutos de pimentão verdes e maduros, feridos e não feridos e quanto a sensibilidade aos fungicidas azoxistrobina, carbendazim, tiabendazol, tebuconazol, captana, clorotalonil e cloreto de benzalcônio. Os resultados demonstram que C. acutatum é a espécie predominante nas principais regiões produtoras de pimentão do país, representando cerca de 72% da população amostrada. C. capsici foi encontrada com freqüência aproximada de 14%, nos estados de São Paulo e Minas Gerais. C. gloeosporioides representou apenas 5% da população amostrada e teve distribuição restrita ao estado de São Paulo e ao Distrito Federal. Um único isolado de C. coccodes foi encontrado no Rio Grande do Sul. Além dessas espécies, isolados identificados como C. boninense foram encontrados em São Paulo e no Rio Grande do Sul, com freqüência de 7% na população amostrada. Este parece ser o primeiro relato de C. boninense infectando pimentão no Brasil e em outras partes do mundo. A caracterização patogênica mostrou que isolados representativos de todas as espécies foram patogênicos aos frutos maduros feridos e não feridos. Nos frutos verdes feridos, apenas os isolados de C. acutatum e de C. capsici promoveram sintomas. Não foram observados sintomas nos frutos verdes sem ferimentos durante o período de avaliação do experimento (12 dias) para nenhum dos isolados. C. acutatum demonstrou ser a espécie mais agressiva, apresentando os menores períodos de latência e a maior esporulação tanto em frutos verdes (feridos) como nos maduros (feridos e não feridos). Os isolados pertencentes a diferentes espécies de Colletotrichum apresentaram sensibilidade diferenciada para todos os fungicidas sistêmicos avaliados. Os isolados de C. acutatum foram mais sensíveis a azoxistrobina, enquanto os isolados de C. gloeosporioides demonstraram a menor sensibilidade para este fungicida. Os isolados de C. gloeosporioides e C. boninense foram os mais sensíveis aos benzimidazóis (carbendazim e tiabendazol), enquanto o isolado de C. coccodes teve a menor sensibilidade para estes fungicidas. O fungicida tebuconazol promoveu o maior controle sobre o crescimento micelial dos isolados. Para este fungicida, C. capsici demonstrou ser a espécie menos sensível. Os resultados deste trabalho demonstram a presença de pelo menos cinco espécies de Colletotrichum responsáveis pela antracnose do pimentão no país e evidenciam a presença de importantes diferenças entre essas, que devem ser consideradas durante o manejo da doença. / In several countries, anthracnose is one of the most serious diseases in pepper. C. gloeosporioides has, for many years, been reported as the causal agent of anthracnose in Brazil. C. acutatum and C. capsici have only recently been reported as agents of anthracnose in some regions of the country. In this study, 56 isolates of Colletotrichum obtained from pepper from different areas of the country were characterized and identified based on the morphological characteristics of the conidia, as well as culture characteristics and PCR analysis with species-specific pairs of primers. Isolates representative of each identified species in the sampled population were also characterized according to their pathogenicity in pepper fruits (unripe, ripe, wounded and nonwounded) and also according to their sensitivity to fungicide (azoxystrobin, carbendazim, thiabendazole, tebuconazole, captan, chlorothalonil and benzalkonium chloride). The results have showed that C. acutatum is the most prevalent species found in the main production areas of pepper, present in about 72% of the sampled population. C. capsici was equivalent to 14% of the sampled population and found in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. C. gloeosporioides was present in only 5% of the samples and it was restricted to the state of São Paulo and Distrito Federal. Only one isolate of C. coccodes was found in Rio Grande do Sul. Besides theses species, isolates of C. boninense were found in São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, with an occurrence of 7% in the sampled population. This seems to be the first report of C. boninense infecting pepper in Brazil and other parts of the world. The pathogenic characterization showed that representative isolates of all species were pathogenic in ripe, wounded, or nonwounded fruits. In wounded green fruit, only isolates of C. acutatum and C. capsici caused infection resulting in disease symptoms. No disease symptoms were observed in green nonwounded fruits inoculated with all Colletotrichum isolates, after 12 days of inoculation. C. acutatum was the most aggressive species with the shortest periods of latency and the highest rate of sporulation in either green wounded fruits or ripe fruits (wounded and nonwounded). Isolates of different species of Colletotrichum showed different sensitivity to the systemic fungicides evaluated. The isolates of C. acutatum were more sensitive to azoxystrobin, whereas C. gloeosporioides showed the lowest sensitivity to this fungicide. C. gloeosporioides and C. boninense isolates were the most sensitive to benzimidazoles fungicides (carbendazim and thiabendazole), whereas C. coccodes isolates showed the lowest sensitivity to these fungicides. The tebuconazol fungicide exerted the highest effect on mycelial growth for all Colletotrichum species. C. capsici showed to be less sensitive to this fungicide. The results of this work have shown the presence of at least five species of Colletotrichum responsible for anthracnose in pepper in Brazil and have made evident the importance of the differences between these species, which must be taken into account for the control of the disease.

A antracnose é uma das doenças mais importantes do pimentão em vários países. Por muitos anos, somente C. gloeosporioides foi relatado como agente causal da antracnose desta cultura no Brasil. Entretanto, recentemente C. acutatum e C. capsici também tem sido associados a esta doença em algumas regiões do país. Neste trabalho, 56 isolados de Colletotrichum obtidos de pimentão e procedentes de diferentes regiões produtoras do país foram caracterizados e identificados por meio de algumas características morfológicas e culturais, e pela análise por PCR utilizando oligonucleotídeos espécie-específicos. Isolados representativos de cada espécie identificada na população amostrada também foram caracterizados quanto à patogenicidade em frutos de pimentão verdes e maduros, feridos e não feridos e quanto a sensibilidade aos fungicidas azoxistrobina, carbendazim, tiabendazol, tebuconazol, captana, clorotalonil e cloreto de benzalcônio. Os resultados demonstram que C. acutatum é a espécie predominante nas principais regiões produtoras de pimentão do país, representando cerca de 72% da população amostrada. C. capsici foi encontrada com freqüência aproximada de 14%, nos estados de São Paulo e Minas Gerais. C. gloeosporioides representou apenas 5% da população amostrada e teve distribuição restrita ao estado de São Paulo e ao Distrito Federal. Um único isolado de C. coccodes foi encontrado no Rio Grande do Sul. Além dessas espécies, isolados identificados como C. boninense foram encontrados em São Paulo e no Rio Grande do Sul, com freqüência de 7% na população amostrada. Este parece ser o primeiro relato de C. boninense infectando pimentão no Brasil e em outras partes do mundo. A caracterização patogênica mostrou que isolados representativos de todas as espécies foram patogênicos aos frutos maduros feridos e não feridos. Nos frutos verdes feridos, apenas os isolados de C. acutatum e de C. capsici promoveram sintomas. Não foram observados sintomas nos frutos verdes sem ferimentos durante o período de avaliação do experimento (12 dias) para nenhum dos isolados. C. acutatum demonstrou ser a espécie mais agressiva, apresentando os menores períodos de latência e a maior esporulação tanto em frutos verdes (feridos) como nos maduros (feridos e não feridos). Os isolados pertencentes a diferentes espécies de Colletotrichum apresentaram sensibilidade diferenciada para todos os fungicidas sistêmicos avaliados. Os isolados de C. acutatum foram mais sensíveis a azoxistrobina, enquanto os isolados de C. gloeosporioides demonstraram a menor sensibilidade para este fungicida. Os isolados de C. gloeosporioides e C. boninense foram os mais sensíveis aos benzimidazóis (carbendazim e tiabendazol), enquanto o isolado de C. coccodes teve a menor sensibilidade para estes fungicidas. O fungicida tebuconazol promoveu o maior controle sobre o crescimento micelial dos isolados. Para este fungicida, C. capsici demonstrou ser a espécie menos sensível. Os resultados deste trabalho demonstram a presença de pelo menos cinco espécies de Colletotrichum responsáveis pela antracnose do pimentão no país e evidenciam a presença de importantes diferenças entre essas, que devem ser consideradas durante o manejo da doença. / In several countries, anthracnose is one of the most serious diseases in pepper. C. gloeosporioides has, for many years, been reported as the causal agent of anthracnose in Brazil. C. acutatum and C. capsici have only recently been reported as agents of anthracnose in some regions of the country. In this study, 56 isolates of Colletotrichum obtained from pepper from different areas of the country were characterized and identified based on the morphological characteristics of the conidia, as well as culture characteristics and PCR analysis with species-specific pairs of primers. Isolates representative of each identified species in the sampled population were also characterized according to their pathogenicity in pepper fruits (unripe, ripe, wounded and nonwounded) and also according to their sensitivity to fungicide (azoxystrobin, carbendazim, thiabendazole, tebuconazole, captan, chlorothalonil and benzalkonium chloride). The results have showed that C. acutatum is the most prevalent species found in the main production areas of pepper, present in about 72% of the sampled population. C. capsici was equivalent to 14% of the sampled population and found in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais. C. gloeosporioides was present in only 5% of the samples and it was restricted to the state of São Paulo and Distrito Federal. Only one isolate of C. coccodes was found in Rio Grande do Sul. Besides theses species, isolates of C. boninense were found in São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul, with an occurrence of 7% in the sampled population. This seems to be the first report of C. boninense infecting pepper in Brazil and other parts of the world. The pathogenic characterization showed that representative isolates of all species were pathogenic in ripe, wounded, or nonwounded fruits. In wounded green fruit, only isolates of C. acutatum and C. capsici caused infection resulting in disease symptoms. No disease symptoms were observed in green nonwounded fruits inoculated with all Colletotrichum isolates, after 12 days of inoculation. C. acutatum was the most aggressive species with the shortest periods of latency and the highest rate of sporulation in either green wounded fruits or ripe fruits (wounded and nonwounded). Isolates of different species of Colletotrichum showed different sensitivity to the systemic fungicides evaluated. The isolates of C. acutatum were more sensitive to azoxystrobin, whereas C. gloeosporioides showed the lowest sensitivity to this fungicide. C. gloeosporioides and C. boninense isolates were the most sensitive to benzimidazoles fungicides (carbendazim and thiabendazole), whereas C. coccodes isolates showed the lowest sensitivity to these fungicides. The tebuconazol fungicide exerted the highest effect on mycelial growth for all Colletotrichum species. C. capsici showed to be less sensitive to this fungicide. The results of this work have shown the presence of at least five species of Colletotrichum responsible for anthracnose in pepper in Brazil and have made evident the importance of the differences between these species, which must be taken into account for the control of the disease.

Datura metel is a herbaceous plant found in almost all tropical parts of the world. It belongs to the family Solanaceae whose members, viz. Duboisia, Atropa, Hyoscyamus and Datura plants are known to produce tropane alkaloids- hyoscyamine and scopolamine which are most noted for their therapeutic use as anti-cholinergic agents. Since these alkaloids are produced in very low amounts in plants, alternative sources and methods of production for these alkaloids have been crucial in meeting the demands for these drugs. Endophytic fungi inhabiting a plant may have the potential to produce the same compounds as the host plants. The aim of the present study was to search for tropane alkaloid producing endophytic fungal isolates from Datura metel. Eighteen endophytic fungi were isolated from various tissues of Datura metel and screened for the presence of three tropane alkaloid biosynthetic genes- putrescine N-methyltransferase (PMT), tropinone reductase I (TRI) and hyoscyamine 6β-hydroxylase (H6H) using PCR-based screening approach. Six endophytic fungal isolates were found to possess the PMT, TR1 and H6H genes. The fungi were identified using molecular taxonomy as Col letotrichum boninense, Phomopsis sp., Fusarium solani, Col letotrichum incarnatum, Col letotrichum siamense and Col letotrichum gloeosporioides and the identity was confirmed using colony and spore morphology. The production of tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine and scopolamine by the fungi has been ascertained using various techniques like TLC, HPLC and ESI-MS/MS by comparison with the authentic reference standards. The amount of tropane alkaloids produced by all six fungi in liquid cultures was quantified using HPLC analysis. Among the six tropane alkaloid-producing fungi Col letotrichum incarnatum gave the highest yields of hyoscyamine and scopolamine which were 3.906 mg/L and 4.13 mg/L, respectively. With an aim to characterize the tropane alkaloid biosynthetic genes in these fungi, the PMT gene was isolated from five of the endophytic fungi- Col letotrichum boni-nense, Fusarium solani, Col letotrichum incarnatum, Col letotrichum siamense and Col-letotrichum gloeosporioides for the first time and the sequence analysis showed high ho-mology (98%) to the Datura metel PMT cDNA. The gene was found to be devoid of introns in the fungi. Further phylogenetic analysis of the full length PMT sequence from the fungi strongly supports the hypothesis of horizontal gene transfer between the host plant and endophytic fungi. For further in detail characterization of fungal PMT, the Col letotrichum boninense PMT gene was taken as a representative. CbPMT gene was cloned in pRSET A expres-sion vector and heterologously expressed in E. coli and biochemically characterized. For optimal yield of soluble protein upon heterologous expression different conditions such as IPTG concentration, temperature and time post induction were optimized. Optimal yield was obtained by inducing the culture by 0.25 mM IPTG once it had reached and O.D. of 0.6 and incubating at 37◦ C for 3 h. The recombinant CbPMT enzyme expressed as histidine tagged fusion protein was purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. Gel elution studies were carried out to determine molecular weight of the protein and it was found that the protein exists as a homodimer in solution with some amount also present as a monomer. Catalytic activity of the purified recombinant enzyme was studied for its dependence on both substrates putrescine as well as S-adenosylmethionine (SAM). The Km and Vmax values for putrescine were found to be 464 µM and 18.55 nkat/mg, respectively, while those for S-adenosylmethionine were found to be 628 µM and 18.63 nkat/mg, respectively. Optimum temperature for activity was found to be 37◦ C and optimum pH range was found to be 8-9. Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to study the binding affinity of both the sub-strates to the enzyme. Fluorescence quenching data for each substrate was analysed by using a nonlinear regression curve fit and Kd values were found to be 0.309 mM for pu-trescine and 0.118 mM for SAM, respectively. Circular dichroism spectrum of the enzyme indicated a pattern typical for alpha helix in the secondary structure. Binding of either substrate led to increase in ellipticity of the protein. Fluorescence quenching studies with collisional quenchers- acrylamide, potassium iodide, and cesium chloride indicated that the native protein is folded in a conformation that allows tryptophan residues to be acces-sible for quenching. The fraction of tryptophan residues (fa ) accessible for quenching by acrylamide (1.06) was found to be higher than that for potassium iodide (0.54) while that cesium ions was the least (0.38). The neutral quencher acrylamide could access all the tryptophans meaning that none of tryptophans are completely buried inside hydrophobic cores. the differential accessibility to the charged quenchers, however, indicates that more of the tryptophans are surrounded by positively charged amino acids. The unfolding of the protein was studied with the aid of chaotropic agents guanidine-HCl and urea and thermodynamic parameters were determined. The denaturant m-values were found to be 2.313 kcal/mol/M for Gdn-HCl and 2.345 kcal/mol/M for urea respectively. The free energy of unfolding was estimated to be 2.635 kcal/mol for Gdn-HCl and 4.630 kcal/mol for urea. Since no reports are available about the thermodynamics of folding and unfolding of PMT from any plant source, this study contributes towards the understanding of protein stability. Although a lot of reports are available on the biochemical characterization of PMT from different plant sources, the crystal structure of PMT is not yet available. In the current work, homology based modelling studies on CbPMT were carried out to get some idea about the protein tertiary structure. Homology based modelling studies showed that a significant amount of protein is present as α-helices which are present on the surface while the β-sheets are present in the interior of the protein. Each monomer of the protein is capable of binding both the substrates and hence the dimerization property of the enzyme could be a purely structural one leading to more stability and solubility of the protein. In conclusion, this study has shown for the first time that endophytic fungi have significant potential to be used for tropane alkaloid production and six such fungal strains have been identified. Although the production of tropane alkaloids by endophytic fungi is not very high, it can be scaled up by over-expressing the biosynthetic gene putrescine N-methyltransferase in the highest producer- Col letotrichum incarnatum to further increase the yield. These endophytic fungi have significant potential to be applied in fermentation technology to meet the demands for these drugs economically.