Lovastatin-producing endophytic fungus isolated from a medicinal plant <i>Solanum xanthocarpum</i>

<div><p>Lovastatin is a potent drug for lowering blood cholesterol. An endophytic fungus <i>Phomopsis vexans</i> was isolated from the healthy leaf tissues of <i>Solanum xanthocarpum</i>, a medicinal plant, and screened for lovastatin production. The fungus was identified by their characteristic cultural morphology and molecular analysis. The strain had a component with the same TLC <i>R</i>_f value and HPLC retention time as authentic lovastatin. The presence of lovastatin was further confirmed by FT-IR, UV, ¹H, ¹³C NMR and LC–MS analyses. The amount of lovastatin produced by this endophytic fungus was quantified to be 550 mg/L, and thus the fungus can serve as a potential material to improve the production of lovastatin.</p>