Thesis (M.Sc.)--Chulalongkorn University, 2006

In this research, describes the uses of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) for rapid identification of endophytic fungi were described. The endophytic fungi were grown in potato dextrose broth and cultures broths were collected at 3 days. Protein molecular weight was measured by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Almost of major protein bands were presented ranging in molecular weight from 14.4 to 97.0 kDa. Then, the protein was analyzed using MALDI-TOF MS. MALDI mass spectra obtained from the extracellular and intracellular proteins secreted by endophytic fungi showed many differences in mass spectra between the species. Proteins that were specific to each species were also identified. These “marker proteins” may useful for identification and characterization of endophytic fungi species. In addition, the analysis of tryptic peptide mixture can be use for identify the endophytic fungi species. The results indicated good repeatability and the calculation values of statistic shown the similarity values with small standard deviation.