Bioactivity profiling of endophytic fungi isolated from Albizia lebbeck: Antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic evaluations.

The production of bioactive compounds by endophytes, exhibiting various properties like antibacterial, insecticidal, antioxidant, antitumor, and antidiabetic, renders them potential models for pharmaceutical development. In a previous investigation, we documented the diversity of 210 endophytic fungi isolated from Albizia lebbeck collected from Jammu & Kashmir. To investigate the bioactive potential of these fungal endophytes, we prepared ethyl acetate extracts and tested their antimicrobial, antioxidant, and In vitro cytotoxic activities. We evaluated antimicrobial effects against several human pathogens, including Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus NCIM 5021 and Bacillus subtilis NCIM 2063), a Gram-negative bacterium (Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCIM 5029), a yeast (Candida albicans NCIM 3557), and a fungal pathogen (Aspergillus niger NCIM 1196) using MIC and MBC/MFC in 96-well microtiter plates and performed antioxidant activity tests using the DPPH assay. Cytotoxic potential was determined against three cancer cell lines: A549, HCT-116, and MCF-7 using the SRB assay. Several isolates exhibited promising bioactivities, with ALE-12 demonstrating potent and selective anticancer activity, further validated through apoptosis induction, ROS generation, and colony inhibition assays. This study highlights endophytic fungi from an underexplored region as a potential source of bioactive compounds.