The Metabolic
Profiling, Docking Studies and Antimicrobial Activity of the Endophytic Fungi, Fomitopsis
pinicola (AVK1) isolated from the rhizome of Zingiber officinalis.
Krishnaveni Vunnam, Kousar Shaik Mahekal and Audipudi Amrutha V.
Res. J. Biotech.; Vol. 20(10); 219-229;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/2010rjbt2190229; (2025)
Abstract
Ginger, a medicinal herb and a spice and flavouring agent, is used to treat cancer,
diabetes and infectious diseases. This study investigates the therapeutic efficiency
of endophytic fungi (AVK1) isolated from ginger. Based on 18s rRNA partial gene
sequencing and phylogenetic studies, AVK1 was identified as Fomitopsis pinicola
and was submitted to GenBank with accession number (PP957928). F. pinicola was found
to be an effective antimicrobial drug against various human pathogens, with the
maximum zone of inhibition observed against Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella
typhimurium using agar well-diffusion assays. The MIC and IC50 values were 14.0
and 7.14 μg/mL respectively. The bioactive constituents present in ethyl acetate
extract of AVK1 include gingerol (18.05%), paradol(14.81%), zingiberene(10.47%),
shogaol(7.67%) and sesquiphellandrene (7.59%).
The anticancer properties of phytocompounds were assessed using molecular docking.
In silico studies targeted overexpressed cancer proteins, confirming their potential
as effective cancer treatments. Docking scores against drug target proteins were
validated. The affinities of binding energies against the 1M17 target protein were
shagaol (-6.5 kcal/mol) > gingerol (-6.2 kcal/mol) > zingiberene (-6.0 kcal/mol)
and paradol (- 5.8 kcal/mol). According to in vitro and silico studies, F. pinicola
(AVK1) can be used as an efficient therapy against infectious diseases and cancers.
