Proteomic and Metabolomic Characteristics of Extremophilic Fungi Under Simulated Mars Conditions

Extremophilic fungi have received considerable attention recently as new promising sources of biologically active compounds with potential pharmaceutical applications. This study investigated the secondary metabolites of a marine-derived Penicillium ochrochloron isolated from underwater sea sand collected from the North Sea in St. Peter-Ording, Germany. Standard techniques were used for fungal isolation, taxonomic identification, fermentation, extraction, and isolation of fungal secondary metabolites. Chromatographic separation and spectroscopic analyses of the fungal secondary metabolites yielded eight compounds: talumarin A (1), aspergillumarin A (2), andrastin A (3), clavatol (4), 3-acetylphenol (5), methyl 2,5-dihydro-4-hydroxy-5-oxo-3-phenyl-2-furanpropanoate (6), emodin (7) and 2-chloroemodin (8). After co-cultivation with Bacillus subtilis, the fungus was induced to express (-)-striatisporolide A (9). Compound 1 was evaluated for antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, Mycobacterium smegmatis, and M. tuberculosis, as well as cytotoxicity against THP-1 cells. The compound, however, was not cytotoxic to THP-1 cells and had no antibacterial activity against the microorganisms tested. The compounds isolated from P. ochrochloron in this study are well-known compounds with a wide range of beneficial biological properties that can be explored for pharmaceutical, agricultural, or industrial applications. This study highlights the bioprospecting potential of marine fungi and confirms co-cultivation as a useful strategy for the discovery of new natural products.

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Extremophilic fungi at the interface of climate change

Fungi Bio-Prospects in Sustainable Agriculture, Environment and Nano-technology ◽

10.1016/b978-0-12-821925-6.00001-0 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

Swati Joshi ◽

Apekcha Bajpai ◽

Bhavdish Narain Johri

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Extremophilic Fungi

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Genetic transformation of extremophilic fungi Acidea extrema and Acidothrix acidophila

Folia Microbiologica ◽

10.1007/s12223-015-0398-7 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 60 (4) ◽

pp. 365-371 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Hana Hršelová ◽

Martina Hujslová ◽

Milan Gryndler

Keyword(s):

Genetic Transformation ◽

Extremophilic Fungi

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Mycosporines in Extremophilic Fungi—Novel Complementary Osmolytes?

Environmental Chemistry ◽

10.1071/en06012 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 105 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

Tina Kogej ◽

Cene Gostinčar ◽

Marc Volkmann ◽

Anna A. Gorbushina ◽

Nina Gunde-Cimerman

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Extreme Environments ◽

Growth Conditions ◽

Black Yeasts ◽

The Arctic ◽

Glacial Ice ◽

Arctic Soil ◽

Hypersaline Water ◽

Osmotic Behaviour ◽

Extremophilic Fungi

Environmental Context.The occurrence of fungi in extreme environments, particularly in hypersaline water and in subglacial ice, is much higher than was previously assumed. When glacial ice melts as a result of calving or surface ablations, these organisms are released in the Arctic soil or sea and have a yet uninvestigated impact on the environment. Knowledge of the metabolites of these extremophilic fungi is important because they could provide signature molecules in the environment, but they can also contribute nutrients to the otherwise oligotrophic polar conditions. In the present work, we examine the osmotic behaviour of fungi grown under hypersaline conditions. Abstract.Fungi isolated from hypersaline waters and polar glacial ice were screened for the presence of mycosporines and mycosporine-like amino acids under non-saline and saline growth conditions. Two different mycosporines and three unidentified UV-absorbing compounds were detected by high performance liquid chromatography in fungal isolates from hypersaline waters and polar glacial ice. It was shown for the first time that the mycosporine–glutaminol–glucoside in halophilic and halotolerant black yeasts from salterns was higher on saline growth medium. This substance might act as a supplementary compatible solute in some extremophilic black yeasts exposed to saline growth conditions.

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Extremophilic Fungi from Marine Environments: Underexplored Sources of Antitumor, Anti-Infective and Other Biologically Active Agents

Marine Drugs ◽

10.3390/md20010062 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 62

Author(s):

Lesley-Ann Giddings ◽

David J. Newman

Keyword(s):

Natural Products ◽

Antitumor Agents ◽

Marine Fungi ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Biologically Active ◽

Bioactive Metabolites ◽

Marine Environments ◽

Environmental Pressures ◽

Symbiotic Associations ◽

Extremophilic Fungi

Marine environments are underexplored terrains containing fungi that produce a diversity of natural products given unique environmental pressures and nutrients. While bacteria are commonly the most studied microorganism for natural products in the marine world, marine fungi are also abundant but remain an untapped source of bioactive metabolites. Given that their terrestrial counterparts have been a source of many blockbuster antitumor agents and anti-infectives, including camptothecin, the penicillins, and cyclosporin A, marine fungi also have the potential to produce new chemical scaffolds as leads to potential drugs. Fungi are more phylogenetically diverse than bacteria and have larger genomes that contain many silent biosynthetic gene clusters involved in making bioactive compounds. However, less than 5% of all known fungi have been cultivated under standard laboratory conditions. While the number of reported natural products from marine fungi is steadily increasing, their number is still significantly lower compared to those reported from their bacterial counterparts. Herein, we discuss many varied cytotoxic and anti-infective fungal metabolites isolated from extreme marine environments, including symbiotic associations as well as extreme pressures, temperatures, salinity, and light. We also discuss cultivation strategies that can be used to produce new bioactive metabolites or increase their production. This review presents a large number of reported structures though, at times, only a few of a large number of related structures are shown.

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