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Abstract
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Endophytic fungi are microorganisms located in the inter- or intracellular compartments of plant tissues but with
no harmful effects. They are considered a potential source of biological compounds. The present study was
conducted to investigate the molecular identification of endophytic fungi isolated from the roots of Lithospermum
officinale and their potential production of shikonin. Phylogenetic analysis was performed based on the Internal
Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region and the isolates were classified into five genera as follows: Alternaria,
Chaetosphaeronema, Fusarium, Mucor, and Trichoderma. The study on the methanol extracts of endophytic fungi
indicated that total polyphenol content had a positive relationship with antioxidant activities and the highest
antioxidant activity belonged to the methanol extracts of Fusarium tricinctum and Alternaria altenata. Then, to
investigate the ability of the fungal isolates to produce shikonin, a naphthoquinone compound with high biological
activity, the extracts were subjected to HPLC. The results obtained from HPLC-mass spectrometry showed
that shikonin could be produced only by F. tricinctum. Thus, F. tricinctum isolated from the roots of L. officinale
can be presented as a new source of shikonin.
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