A homologous series of 1-alkyl-(N,N-dimethylamino)pyridinium bromides, termed compounds 1–11, was synthesized and studied for antibacterial and antifungal activity. Of these, compound 8, containing a ten-carbon alkyl chain, showed maximum inhibition against all the tested bacterial strains. The highest antibacterial activity using a disc diffusion method was recorded against Mycobacterium smegmatis [zone of inhibition (ZOI): 45.75±0.25 mm], followed by Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Vibrio cholerae, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhi. In addition to antibacterial activity, compounds 3–11 displayed good inhibitory action against the human opportunistic yeast pathogens Cryptococcus neoformans and various Candida spp. The maximum ZOI was observed against Cryptococcus neoformans (51.5±0.5 mm) using compound 8, with ZOIs of 23.5±0.5, 32.0±0.0, 27.75±0.25 and 41.5±0.5 mm against Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis and Candida krusei, respectively. Furthermore, compound 8 caused inhibition of the candidal yeast–hyphae transition at a concentration of 0.29 µM and also inhibited the secretion of extracellular hydrolytic enzyme such as secreted aspartyl proteinase at subinhibitory concentrations. Compound 8 showed very little haemolytic activity at a concentration of 0.58 µM (1.315±0.75 %), with its highest haemolytic activity (47.806±2.32 %) observed at a concentration of 2.9 µM.

The fungal communities of different soil compartments in mangrove ecosystem are poorly studied. We sequenced the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions to characterize the fungal communities in Avicennia marina root-associated soils (rhizosphere and pneumatophore) and bulk soil compartments. The rhizosphere but not pneumatophore soil compartment had significantly lower fungal species richness than bulk soil. However, bulk soil fungal diversity (Shannon diversity index) was significantly higher than both pneumatophore and rhizosphere soil compartments. The different soil compartments significantly affected the fungal community composition. Pairwise sample analyses showed that bulk soil microbial community composition significantly different from rhizosphere and pneumatophore soil compartments. There was, however no significant difference observed between rhizosphere and pneumatophore soil fungal community composition and they shared relatively more OTUs between them. Further, there was a significant correlation observed between fungal community compositional changes and carbon or nitrogen availability of different soil compartments. These results suggest that few characteristics such as fungal richness and taxa abundance of rhizosphere and pneumatophore soil compartments were significantly different in mangrove ecosystem.