Isolation and identification of fungi associated with Rhizophora apiculata in Setiu Wetland

Abstract

Marine fungi can become potential rich sources of secondary metabolites with biological activities. This study was carried out to isolate and identify the fungi associated with Rhizophora apiculata from Setiu Wetland. Three part of R. apiculata such as leaves, roots and stems were collected and isolated and the fungi obtained were identified. Two main techniques have been used for isolation namely direct plating technique and damp incubation technique. Identification was done based on the morphology of the fungi observed under microscope. As a result, a total of 55 fungi have been isolated with 33 species and 22 species from direct plating technique and damp incubation technique, respectively. This includes 10 ascomycota, 19 deuteromycetes, ten zygomycota and one basidiomycota. The most common fungi were Pestalotiopsis sp. from direct plating technique with the frequency occurrence is 30% and about 33.33% from damp incubation technique. On the other hand, there was about 77.78% of frequency occurrence of Aspergillus sp. from damp incubation technique. One marine fungus, Chadefaudia sp. was able to be identified from damp incubation technique, while the others were terrestrial fungi. However, there were about 15 species unable to be identified. These fungal isolates can be manipulated further to explore their potentials in producing bioactive compounds.