SEPARATION, PURIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF VINCRISTINE AND VINBLASTINE FROM FUSARIUM OXYSPORUM, AN ENDOPHYTIC FUNGUS PRESENT IN CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS LEAVES

Abstract

Endophytic fungi reside in their host plants in a symbiotic manner, imitating their chemistry and produce several natural products some of which are camptothecin, taxol, podophyllotoxin, etc. Many of these compounds possess pharmaceutical applications. Vincristine and Vinblastine are two such organic compounds, which possess efficient anticancer activity. These compounds are isolated from the endophytic fungi, extracted from the Catharanthus roseus species in higher amounts which are sufficient to meet the bulk requirements of the pharmaceutical industry. Using the TLC technique, the isolated compounds were purified and the structural moieties were characterized using MS/MS and ESIMS. It was noticed from one liter of the filtered culture, vincristine and vinblastine were obtained as 66.5 mg and 75.5 mg respectively. Further, the cultural, morphological features were analyzed along with internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequential analysis, and the fungal strain was found as Fusarium oxysporum.