Isolation and Screening of Endophytic Fungi for Oil Production

Abstract

There is an urgent call for bio-fuels which are highly effective and can be used as an alternative to petro-diesel. Popularly known for its potential as bio-fuel, Jatropha curcus is a perennial plant which can be grown in marginal or poor soil. The seeds of Jatropha curcus are reported to contain 27-40% oil content that can be converted into superior kind of biodiesel. Besides Jatropha, many other plants and microbes are being explored for oil production. Endophytes are microbes which resides intercellularly within the host for at least once in their lifetime without showing any significant clue of their existence. Jatropha curcus was exploited its endophytic fungi for oil production. Unlike other edible crops, endophytic fungi can accumulate high levels of lipids, do not require land for cultivation and they do not compete in food production. A total of 26 fungal endophytes were isolated from leaves, stem and mid rib of Jatropha curcus, collected from Thapar University and outskirts of Patiala in month of January 2015. The fungal endophytes having potential to produce oil were primarily grown on Potato Dextrose Broth medium. The culture filtrate was screened for their potential to produce oil extracellularly. The secondary screening was carried out the basis of biochemical testing. Out of 26 cultures, #33JCLTU produced detectable amount of oil (4.7 mg). Microscopic identification showed that #33JCLTU belongs to Alternaria sp. Further for molecular identification, genomic DNA of the #33JCLTU isolate was amplified using universal ITS primers. They showed an amplicon in size between 550-600bp. The isolate was identified as Alternaria macrospora. Further characterization is warranted of the endophytic isolates to develop them as a source of oil for biodiesel production.