PCR-BASED IDENTIFICATION, BIODIVERSITY, AND ANTIFUNGAL SCREENING OF ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI FROM DEVIL’S CLAW (HARPAGOPHYTUM PROCUMBENS)

Food safety remains a critical global issue, with fungi posing significant challenges due to their ability to produce mycotoxins, contaminate crops, and compromise food quality. These contaminants impact public health, reduce agricultural productivity, and hinder food security, particularly in developing regions. Addressing this problem requires integrated strategies, including biocontrol, fungal-resistant crops, and improved food storage technologies, to ensure global food safety and public health. Recent research has discovered that plants harbour therapeutic valuable endophytes which produce a plethora of unique biocompounds used for medical, pharmacological, and agricultural purposes. The aim of the study is to identify and screen endophytic fungi from Devil’s Claw. Thirty (n=30) Harpagophytum procumbens (Devil’s claw) plants were used to isolate a total of 114 endophytic fungi. Morphological techniques as well as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence-based techniques were used to identify the endophytic fungi. The identities of the fungal strains were blasted against the known isolates using the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. Antifungal screening was tested against plant pathogenic fungi using dual technique assay. Colonization rates (CR) in leaves were 50% and isolation rates (IR) were 21%, respectively, whereas stem colonization rates (CR) were 25% and 14%. The lowest CR and IR were found in roots, with CR of 21% and IR of 17%. According to the blast results, isolates were identified to species level based on similarities with existing sequences in GenBank. As a result, predominate species were Alternaria sp (16%), followed by Alternaria alternata (14%), and Penicillium (10%) species only 20 fungal strains were able to demonstrate high bioactivity. Penicillium sp. (S4 and S49) had the strongest inhibition at 69% pathogens against Collectotrichum gleosporioides (12517), despite this Alternaria alternata (L39) exhibiting the lowest activity 24% against the same pathogen. This is the first study of culturable endophytic fungi isolated from Harpagophytum procumbens for antifungal activity. Such studies provide leeway to the discovery of new, economical, and effective antifungal agents of natural origin for agricultural use.