Multifunctional bioactivity of eco-friendly Penicillium gladioli extract against Toxoplasma gondii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The soil fungus Penicillium gladioli was identified by sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy of the extract showed 50 compounds. Among the detected peaks, n-hexadecanoic acid showed the largest relative peak area (7.989% of the total ion chromatogram), followed by phenol, 2-methyl-5-(1-methylethyl) (6.543%). Regarding the in vivo anti-toxoplasma potential, there was an enhancement of the histological features of the liver of Swiss albino mice with a substantial decrease (p < 0.05) in the inflammatory mediators, including cyclooxygenase-2, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, and interleukin-1β. The colorimetric determination of the nitric oxide and malondialdehyde in the liver of the fungal extract-treated group revealed its antioxidant effect by significantly reducing (p < 0.05) the oxidative stress markers. P. gladioli extract established antibacterial potential on P. aeruginosa bacteria with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 64 to 512 µg/ml. Moreover, it demonstrated antibiofilm potential using crystal violet assay and SEM. Also, 45% of the isolates displayed downregulation of the lasR, lecA, and pelA biofilm genes.