Diversity of agarwood-inducing fungi from Gyrinops versteegii tree

Gyrinops versteegii is a tropical tree of the Thymelaeaceae family. Under special conditions, G. versteegii tree can produce agarwood (Gaharu), a high economic commodity in the world yielding aromatic resin. Agarwood can be used for incense, perfume, addition to herbal medicine, food ingredients, and ornamental functions. It also contains phenolic compounds and feruly glycerides, which exhibit anti-cancer activity. It is apparently an induced resinous product due to subsequent infection by facultative fungal pathogens. In this study, we aim to investigate the diversity of agarwood-inducing fungi by isolating fungi from the infected trunk of G. versteegii. The pure fungi isolates were identified microscopically and then reconfirmed by molecular techniques. The identification method included genomic DNA isolation, DNA amplification of Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) genes by a specific primer, direct ITS gene sequencing and molecular analysis of fungi species. The investigated fungi that resulted from this research are Fusarium sp. Gv1, Aspergillus sp. Gv2 and Fusarium sp. Gv3. Three different fungi found in the same infection site show that the diversity of agarwood-inducing fungi from the G. versteegii tree is relatively high.