Abstract

• Endophytes are microbes (mostly bacteria and fungi) present in plants asymptomatically. Endophytic fungi are known to produce a wide range of metabolites of pharmaceutical importance. This research paper deals with the endophytic fungi isolated from the leaves of Stephanotis volubilis (L.f.) S.Ruess, Liede & Meve. It is a well-recognized medicinal plant in traditional medicine. A total of 31 fungal species were isolated from the leaves. The morphology of endophytic fungi was studied and antimicrobial activities of these fungi were carried out by using paper disc diffusion method on six test organisms. All isolated fungi showed antimicrobial activities on Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans, Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonas sp., Staphylococcus aureus. According to the results, MM-25 showed the best antimicrobial activity against six test organisms. As a result of morphological and microscopical characters, this strain may be Rhizoctonia sp. In the study of fermentation parameters, the age of seed culture and the size of inoculum were investigated under two different states such as static and shaking. It was resulted that three-day old cultures provided the highest antimicrobial potentials on six test organisms. Moreover, 25% size of inoculum in fermentation was also observed the best antimicrobial activity on Staphylococcus aureus in both static and shaking states.