Antioxidant potential, in vitro cytotoxicity and apoptotic effect induced by crude organic extract of Anthracophyllum lateritium against RD sarcoma cells.

Background: Macrofungi have an established history of use in traditional oriental medicine. Anthracophyllum lateritium is a terrestrial macrofungus found in the dry zone forest reserves in Sri Lanka. Yet there are no scientific reports on bioactive properties of this species.

Helvolic acid, an antibacterial nortriterpenoid from a fungal endophyte, sp. of orchid endemic to Sri Lanka.

An endophytic fungus was isolated from surface sterilized leaf segments of an orchid endemic to Sri Lanka, and was identified as sp. by morphological characters and DNA sequencing. Bioassay-guided chromatographic fractionation of the organic extract of a laboratory culture of this fungus led to the isolation of the known antibacterial helvolic acid.

New species from the Fusarium solani species complex derived from perithecia and soil in the old World tropics.

A large collection of strains belonging to the Fusarium solani species complex (FSSC) was isolated from soil and perithecia in primary forests in Sri Lanka (from fallen tree bark) and tropical Australia (Queensland, from fallen tree fruits and nuts). Portions of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1) gene, the nuclear large subunit (NLSU) and internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS) of the nuclear ribosomal RNA genes were sequenced in 52 isolates from soil and perithecia. The FSSC was divided previously into three clades with some biogeographic structure, termed Clades 1, 2 and 3.

Dhilirolides A-D, meroterpenoids produced in culture by the fruit-infecting fungus Penicillium purpurogenum collected in Sri Lanka.

Dhilirolides A (1) to D (4), a family of secondary metabolites with a putative meroterpenoid biogenetic origin and the unprecedented dhilirane and isodhilirane carbon skeletons, have been isolated from laboratory cultures of the fruit-infecting fungus Penicillium purpurogenum collected in Sri Lanka. The structures of 1 to 4 were elucidated by interpretation of NMR data and a single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of 1.

Lanostane triterpenoids from the Sri Lankan basidiomycete Ganoderma applanatum.

Two new lanostane-type triterpenoids, 3alpha,16alpha-dihydroxylanosta-7,9(11),24-trien-21-oic acid (1) and 3alpha,16alpha,26-trihydroxylanosta-7,9(11),24-trien-21-oic acid (2), along with three known lanostanoids, 16alpha-hydroxy-3-oxolanosta-7,9(11),24-trien-21-oic acid (3), 3alpha-carboxyacetoxy-24-methylen-23-oxolanost-8-en-26-oic acid (4), and 3alpha-carboxyacetoxy-24-methyl-23-oxolanost-8-en-26-oic acid (5), have been isolated from the EtOAc extract of the fruiting body of Ganoderma applanatum. The structures of 1, 2, and 3 were determined directly by the interpretation of spectroscopic data, while the structures of 4 and 5 were assigned by comparison of spectroscopic data against literature values.

Development of a DNA probe and a PCR based diagnostic assay for Rhizoctonia solani using a repetitive DNA sequence cloned from a Sri Lankan isolate.

Rhizoctonia solani is a destructive fungal pathogen of many economically important plants all over the world and the causative organism of sheath blight of rice in many tropical countries including Sri Lanka. A repetitive sequence from the genome of R. solani was cloned and characterized with a view to develop a DNA probe and a PCR diagnostic assay for detection of the fungus.

Genetic variation in Corynespora cassiicola: a possible relationship between host origin and virulence.

Genetic variation of 42 isolates of Corynespora cassiicola, a destructive fungal pathogen of many economically important crop plants including rubber, was investigated using RAPD-PCR analysis. Five genetic groups were identified using RAPD-PCR profiles generated by eight random primers. Results indicate that there is a significant genetic variation among C.