Mushroom fungi secrete antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral bioactive compounds of therapeutic and pharmacological value. Very limited work has been done on the exploration of antimicrobial principles from macrobasidiomycetes against plant pathogens. In this view, a study was proposed to screen eight mushroom fungi viz., Auricularia polytricha, Coprinus comatus, Ganoderma lucidum, Volvariella volvaceae, Lentinus edodes, Pycnoporus sanguineus, Schizophyllum commune, Trametes versicolor against spore germination and mycelial growth of Colletotrichum capsici , the fruit rot pathogen of Chilli and to extract antimicrobial molecules from the selected mushroom fungi using different solvents viz., Chloroform, Diethyl ether and Ethyl acetate. Results from dual culture technique revealed that Ganoderma lucidum, Auricularia polytricha and Lentinus edodes showed maximum antifungal activity by inhibiting the mycelial growth of C. capsici (, % and respectively) with maximum inhibition zone of ( mm, mm and mm respectively). Though the Chloroform, Diethyl ether and Ethyl acetate fractions of G. lucidum cell free extracts inhibited spore germination of C. capsici both at 12 and 24 hours, maximum inhibition of spore germination was observed at 24 hours. | Antimicrobial activity of biomolecules from mushroom fungi against colletotrichum capsici (SYD.) butler and bisby, the fruit rot pathogen of Chilli
