Antifungal activity of Rauwolfia serpentina root extract against Neurospora crassa and genetic study of induced mutants

Rauwolfia serpentina (R. serpentina) root extract was used to study antifungal activity against Neurospora crassa (Ema) as well as mutation, mating type, segregation of the fungus. It was found that more concentration of root extract was used in VM media, higher antifungal activity was observed. After mutation in N. crassa conidia with root extract of R. serpentina, 5 groups of morphological mutants viz. albino (al 98), vigorous (vg 77), fluffy (fl 139), conidial band (con.band 221) and cauliflower (clf 155) were obtained. From genetic study, it was found that all the mutants formed perithecia crossing with EmA which confirmed that mating type of all the mutants is ‘a’ and is not changed due to mutation. Besides, segregation ratio between mutant and wild isolates was about 1:1 which confirmed that mutation takes place in the nuclear gene, not cytoplasmic