African Journal of
Microbiology Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Microbiol. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0808
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJMR
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 5210

Full Length Research Paper

Effect of boric acid on the growth and production of β-glucosidase in Paecilomyces variotii

Swi See Ang1, Abu Bakar Salleh1,2* and Fatimah Abu Bakar1,3, Nor Azah Yusof1,4, Muhammad Zukhrufuz Zaman3, and Lee Yook Heng5
1Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor D.E., Malaysia. 2Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, UPM Selangor D.E., Malaysia. 3Department of Food Science, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor D.E., Malaysia. 4Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor D.E., Malaysia. 5School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and and Technology,Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor D.E., Malaysia.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 30 July 2011
  •  Published: 09 September 2011

Abstract

Boric acid was examined for antifungal activity against several species of fungi. The growth and production of β-glucosidase in several strains of fungi were tested in the media containing various concentrations of boric acid. The results obtained indicate that the growth ofTrichoderma strains was reduced with increasing amount of boric acid up to 0.3% (w/v). However, Paecilomyces variotii was able to tolerate boric acid above 0.3% (w/v) by increasing its growth. Trichoderma also showed low production of β-glucosidase as compared to P. variotii. Present study revealed that boric acid works as effective fungicide by inhibiting the production of β-glucosidase and the growth of fungi. This suggests that boric acid might be useful for the treatment of fungal infection caused by P. variotii or Trichoderma strains.

 

Key words: Growth, β-glucosidase, boric acid, inhibition, Paecilomyces variotii.

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This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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