Endolichenic fungi (ELF) serve as a novel source of natural products with distinctive bioactivities. A total of 58 ELF isolated from 29 lichens collected from mangrove and mangrove-associated plants of Negombo lagoon, Sri Lanka were identified using morphological and DNA barcoding techniques. Ethyl acetate extracts of 18 such identified ELF isolates were subjected to in vitro assays to determine antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, tyrosinase inhibitory and antibacterial potency. Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) dereplication was conducted on the crude extracts in order to detect the secondary metabolites present. The extracts of Daldinia eschscholtzii and Hypoxylon lividipigmentum had the highest radical scavenging activity with SC50 values 14.27 ± 0.24 µg/mL and 18.34 ± 1.37 µg/mL, respectively. D. eschscholtzii also exhibited remarkable anti-inflammatory activity (IC50 7.97 ± 0.09 µg/mL). Tyrosinase inhibitory activity was highest in Cytospora xylocarpi (IC50 68.50 ± 0.34 µg/mL), while the highest activity against aerobic bacterial species Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and the anaerobic bacterial strain Streptococcus mutans was observed in the extracts of Xylaria feegenesis and Curvularia lunata. After a thorough study of the LC–MS profiles, it was found that the chemical profiles of Neofusicoccum occulatum, H. lividipigmentum and Myramaececium rubricosum were previously poorly explored in the literature.
Molecular phylogeny and bioprospecting of Endolichenic Fungi (ELF) inhabiting in the lichens collected from a mangrove ecosystem in Sri Lanka
