Fungi produce a wide range of natural products mostly related to secondary metabolism, e.g., polyketides, non-ribosomal peptides or terpenes/terpenoids. The interest in these compounds is considerable, as many fungal metabolites are of medical, industrial and/or agricultural importance.
Due to increasing resistance of microorganisms to synthetic drugs (antibiotics, antimycotics, nematocidal, etc.), the discovery of new antibacterial and antifungal agents is crucial, particularly when focusing on natural sources instead of laboratory synthesis. From an analytical point of view, major issues are: extraction; isolation; detection and identification. Generic examples of technologies engaged for this purpose include: solvent extraction methods; HPLC/UHPLC and respective detection methods (MS, HRMS, UV, etc.); IR, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, X-ray cristallography. Other challenges include: antimicrobial tests and screening; clinical trials; production scale-up.
Many of the currently top used antibiotics (Amphotericin B, Erythromycin, Neomycin, Streptomycin, etc.) are produced from bacterial sources, namely Streptomyces species in Actinobacteria. Nevertheless, Fungi have yielded a plethora of penicillins from at least 8 species in Penicillium sect. Chrysogena. Just for example, diverging from the same metabolic pathway, cephalosporins (mainly from Acremonium chrysogenum) are ß-lactams with similar mode of action to penicillin, but showing less allergenicity. Griseofulvins are polyketides mainly obtained from Penicillium griseofulvum and P. aethiopicum; their action is above all antifungal. Sordarins are compounds isolated from a wide range of fungi but mainly from Podospora araneosa (in 1968) and show antifungal properties.
In this Research Topic, we aim to provide new evidence about fungi as a valuable source of bioactive compounds with antimicrobial properties. Although this Research Topic is focused on kingdom Fungi, Mycology has traditionally dealt with Myxomycetes as well; thus, despite the latter are now classified as Protozoa, studies about their antimicrobial compounds are welcome.
Topics particularly of interest are:
• Production of compounds with medicinal properties in filamentous fungi, yeasts, macrofungi & mushrooms.
• Industrial applications and scaling up, methods to increase antimicrobials yield (e.g. bioelicitation), product extraction and characterization.
• Cultivation technology and biochemical pathways.
• Role of genetic and/or environmental factors in metabolites production.
• Bioactivity of wild specimens versus cultivated specimen.
Note that merely descriptive studies won’t be considered for peer-review.
Fungi produce a wide range of natural products mostly related to secondary metabolism, e.g., polyketides, non-ribosomal peptides or terpenes/terpenoids. The interest in these compounds is considerable, as many fungal metabolites are of medical, industrial and/or agricultural importance.
Due to increasing resistance of microorganisms to synthetic drugs (antibiotics, antimycotics, nematocidal, etc.), the discovery of new antibacterial and antifungal agents is crucial, particularly when focusing on natural sources instead of laboratory synthesis. From an analytical point of view, major issues are: extraction; isolation; detection and identification. Generic examples of technologies engaged for this purpose include: solvent extraction methods; HPLC/UHPLC and respective detection methods (MS, HRMS, UV, etc.); IR, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy, X-ray cristallography. Other challenges include: antimicrobial tests and screening; clinical trials; production scale-up.
Many of the currently top used antibiotics (Amphotericin B, Erythromycin, Neomycin, Streptomycin, etc.) are produced from bacterial sources, namely Streptomyces species in Actinobacteria. Nevertheless, Fungi have yielded a plethora of penicillins from at least 8 species in Penicillium sect. Chrysogena. Just for example, diverging from the same metabolic pathway, cephalosporins (mainly from Acremonium chrysogenum) are ß-lactams with similar mode of action to penicillin, but showing less allergenicity. Griseofulvins are polyketides mainly obtained from Penicillium griseofulvum and P. aethiopicum; their action is above all antifungal. Sordarins are compounds isolated from a wide range of fungi but mainly from Podospora araneosa (in 1968) and show antifungal properties.
In this Research Topic, we aim to provide new evidence about fungi as a valuable source of bioactive compounds with antimicrobial properties. Although this Research Topic is focused on kingdom Fungi, Mycology has traditionally dealt with Myxomycetes as well; thus, despite the latter are now classified as Protozoa, studies about their antimicrobial compounds are welcome.
Topics particularly of interest are:
• Production of compounds with medicinal properties in filamentous fungi, yeasts, macrofungi & mushrooms.
• Industrial applications and scaling up, methods to increase antimicrobials yield (e.g. bioelicitation), product extraction and characterization.
• Cultivation technology and biochemical pathways.
• Role of genetic and/or environmental factors in metabolites production.
• Bioactivity of wild specimens versus cultivated specimen.
Note that merely descriptive studies won’t be considered for peer-review.
