Light mediation to induce production of valuable compounds in endophytic and endolichenic fungi

Light is an important influence on fungal development but they are not well studied in general. This thesis examined the influence of light regulation on growth, and production of enzyme and bioactive compounds of fungi. In this study, the irradiation of specific light spectra (blue, red, yellow and green lights) greatly enhanced the enzyme productions, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the fungal isolates. Additionally, more bioactive metabolites were produced under the light treatments. As such, this study showed light treatments could serve as an effective strategy in harnessing bioactive compounds and may be utilized for microbial biotechnological applications.