Antifungal Compounds Produced in Antagonistic Competition Between Marine Fungi

Abstract

Competition among fungi has been characteristic of antibiotic relationships between microbes, leading to the discovery of novel antimicrobial compounds. This study observed such antagonistic relationships between marine fungi isolated from coral off the coast of Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Competition assays were conducted on these fungal isolates against two chosen competing species on PDA plates. Three fungal isolates were observed to release antifungal compounds inhibiting the growth of the competing species. Methanol extracts were taken from each of the three fungal isolates and ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra obtained. The three fungi were shown to produce antifungal compounds, not observed in previous studies. 14 fractions were obtained from subjecting the methanol extracts from each of the three fungi to chromatography. The final step remains to test these fractions for antifungal activity leading to the isolation and identification of the antifungal compounds.