MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION OF ENDOPHYTIC FUNGI ISOLATED FROM Garcinia porrecta AND Garcinia forbesii

The objective of this study was to identify the endophytic fungi isolated from Garcinia porrecta and Garcinia forbesii deposited in Laboratory of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacy, University of Indonesia by using molecular tools. Five isolates of endophytic strains which were displayed the strongest antibacterial and antioxidant activities were identified based on ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequence analysis. The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was used to identify these endophytic fungi by using primer NS1 and NS4. Amplicon or PCR product was analyzed by sequencing method to determine the DNA sequence. The result of sequencing DNA then compared with GenBank’s database using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). The results revealed that five isolates of endophytic strains had been successfully identified by this method. Four of them were identified up to the level of species as Penicillium purpurogenum, Zasmidium cellare, Colletothricum gloeosporioides, and Nectria curta, while the other one was identified up to the level of genus namely Pestaloptiosis sp.