Identification and antimicrobial activity test of endophytic fungi from water hyacinth petiole (Eichhornia crassipes) against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

Endophytic fungi have bioactive compounds in the form of secondary metabolites that come from reciprocal relationships with their host plants. Microorganisms such as endophytic fungi has important role in the production of bioactive compounds in the field of biotechnology. The main goal of this study was to find out the antimicrobial activity of endophytic fungi from water hyacinth petiole against E. coli and S. aureus. The endophytic fungi were cultured from petiole of water hyacinth on PDA for 4-5 days at 30°C. The fungi isolates that have grown were purified and used to test of antimicrobial activity. The method used for antimicrobial test is overlay and disc diffusion agar test. There were 8 endophytic fungi isolated, a total of 4 endophytic fungi identified. Overlay test of the results showed only three isolates had antimicrobial activity i.e Aspergillus sp. Trichophyton sp. and Penicillium sp. Disk diffusion test of the results showed that Penicillium sp. had strong antimicrobial activity with inhibition zones 13.6 ± 1.4 mm (E. coli) and 7.5 ± 1.1 mm (S. aureus). Meanwhile, Aspergillus sp. produced antimicrobial activity with inhibition zones 2.5 ± 0.2 mm and Trichophyton sp. of 2.8 ± 0.7 mm against E. coli bacteria.