Effect of salinity on the growth,biological activity and secondary metabolites of some marine fungi

The study investigated the effects of salinity on growth, antimicrobial activities and secondary metabolites of 47 marine filamentous fungi isolated from the East China Sea near the western shore of the Taiwan Straits. The results indicate that NaCl promoted the growth up to 91.5% of test strains. However, only 14.9% of them showed a significant increase of antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans. When incubated in different concentrations of NaCl, the colony growth, antimicrobial activities and composition of secondary metabolites of the strain Ty01b-8 of Penicillium sp. varied. Treatment with KCl also showed a similar effect. An alkaloid isolated from the fermentation broth of Ty01b-8 was identified as chrysogine, inhibition activity of which against Hela cells was 15.05% at 20μg/ml, and yield was 4.4 and 4.9 times higher in 3 percent and 6 percent NaCl treatments, respectively, compared with the non-salt culture condition. These findings prove that salinity is an important factor influencing growth and secondary metabolites of some marine fungi, which can be used to screen for new metabolites from marine fungi, and to enhance their metabolites production in industrial fermentation.

An online resource for marine fungi

Index Fungorum,Species Fungorum and MycoBank are the key fungal nomenclature and taxonomic databases that can be sourced to find taxonomic details concerning fungi,while DNA sequence data can be sourced from the NCBI,EBI and UNITE databases.Nomenclature and ecological data on freshwater fungi can be accessed on http://fungi.life.illinois.edu/,while http://www.marinespecies.org/provides a comprehensive list of names of marine organisms,including information on their synonymy.Previous websites however have little information on marine fungi and their ecology,beside articles that deal with marine fungi,especially those published in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries may not be accessible to those working in third world countries.To address this problem,a new website www.marinefungi.org was set up and is introduced in this paper.This website provides a search facility to genera of marine fungi,full species descriptions,key to species and illustrations,an up to date classification of all recorded marine fungi which includes all fungal groups(Ascomycota,Basidiomycota,Blastocladiomycota,Chytridiomycota,Mucoromycota and fungus-like organisms e.g.Thraustochytriales),and listing recent publications.Currently,1257 species are listed in the marine fungi website(www.marinefungi.org),in 539 genera,74 orders,168 families,20 classes and five phyla,with new taxa continuing to be described.The website has curators with specialist mycological expertise who help to provide update data on the classification of marine fungi.This article also reviews knowledge of marine fungi covering a wide range of topics:their higher classification,ecology and world distribution,role in energy transfer in the oceans,origin and new chemical structures.An updated classification of marine fungi is also included.We would like to invite all mycologists to contribute to this innovative website.

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and antioxidants mining from marine fungi:bioassays,bioactivity coupled LC-MS/MS analyses and molecular networking

Marine fungi are potentially important resources for bioactive lead compounds for discovering new drugs for diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.In this paper,the combined bioassay model of acetylcholinesterase(AChE)inhibition,1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH)free radical scavenging,and Artemi ci larval lethality was used to evaluate the activity and toxicity of 35 n narine fun gal strains from seas around China.Their bioactive constitue nfs were revealed by thin layer chromatography(TLC)autography,bioactivity coupled LC-MS/MS and Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking(GNPS).The results show that the extracts of five strains exhibited higher AChE inhibition ratios than the positive control compound,'tacrine;for which the ratio was 89.8%at 200 pig/ml.Six strains displayed both AChE inhibition(inhibition ratios>20%at 200 pg/ml)and DPPH scavenging activity(scavenging ratios>30%at 200 pg/ml)together with low Artemia larval toxicity(lethal rates<12%).TLC autography showed that the fractioned extracts of four strains contained highly diverse and different bioactive constituents,includi ng strains Talaromyces sp.C2\-\,Aspergillus ter re us C23-3,Trichoderma harzianum DLEN2008005,and Penicillium corylophilum TBG1-17.From the most potent sample F-l 1-1-b(derived from Aspergillus tern us C23-3),five AChE inhibitors and seven antioxida nts were recognized as bioactive molecules by AChE coupled ultrafiltration followed by LC-MS/MS,and LC-MS/MS coupled with DPPH incubation.Furthermore,with the aid of GNPS,the AChE inhibitors were plausibly annotated as territrem analogues including territrems A-C/D,arisugacin A and an unknown compound 4,and the seven antioxidants were assigned as butyrolactone I.aspernolide E,a phenolic derivative and possibly unknown compounds 8-10 and 12.

Marine mycoflora of south India with special emphasis on Lignicolous Marine Fungi

A study dealing with the marine fungi associated with decaying wood samples in the brackish water mangrove ecosystem and shoreline ecosystem was carried out in south India.A total of 19 marine fungi were isolated from the brackish water mangrove ecosystem.They included 13 Ascomycetes,one Basidiomycete and five Mitosporic fungi.In terms of percent frequency of occurrence,the most frequent species obtained from the brackishwater were the Lignincola longirostris(16.60%)and Savoryella lignicola(12.09%).Nine species were found frequently.Five species were occasionally encoun-tered.Aigialus mangrovei,Aniptodera mangrovei and Halosarpheia marina were the rare species recorded.The average number of isolates per wood sample was 1.53.A total of 27 marine fungi including 15 ascomycetes,one basidiomycete and ten mitosporic fungi were recorded from the shoreline ecosystem.In terms of percent frequency of occurrence,the most frequent species obtained from Kanyakumari were the Arenariomyces trifurcates(13.66%),Corollospora maritima(12.44%),and Cirrenalia pygmea(10.98%).Seven species were found frequently.Fourteen species were occasionally encountered.Three species were found to be rare in occurrence.The average number of isolates per wood sample was 1.21.

β-cyclopiazonic acid binds iron demonstrating siderophorelike activity and promotes growth in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

This chemical study reports a novel siderophore-like compound,β-cyclopiazonic acid(1,β-CPA)extracted from marine fungus Aspergillus flavus.The chemical structure ofβ-CPA was elucidated by a combination of extensive spectroscopic analyses and TDDFT-ECD calculations.The iron-binding ability and CAS assays demonstrate thatβ-CPA is a novel siderophore that features a different chemical structure from those of traditional siderophores.Theβ-CPA has no obvious influence on the growth of bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1.However,its iron chelator could promote the growth of P.aeruginosa PAO1,suggesting that P.aeruginosa employed siderophores to sequester iron,which is vital for their survival.The study provides the physiochemical evaluation ofβ-CPA,an unusual skeletonstructure siderophore,which for the first time,was proven to have the ability to bind iron and affect P.aeruginosa growth.This new discovery of siderophore provides an opportunity for developing novel anti-P.aeruginosa drugs.

Endophytes and associated marine derived fungi—ecological and chemical perspectives

The potential of endophytes and algal or invertebrate associated marine derived fungi as promising sources of structurally unprecedented bioactive natural products is undeniable and continues to attract broad attention.This review highlights new bioactive fungal metabolites reported in 2011 until April 2012,as well as known compounds for which novel biological activities have been disclosed.All compounds are grouped according to their reported biological activities which include cytotoxic,anti-infective,as well as radical scavenging,enzyme inhibition,anti-fouling and anti-parasitic activities.Overall,178 fungal metabolites,including 138 new natural products are presented.Furthermore,new insights into fungal-host interaction,chemical communication,and chemo-ecological roles of fungal metabolites,as well as new strategies for bioprospecting are presented.

Hidden diversity of marine borderline lichens and a new order of fungi:Collemopsidiales(Dothideomyceta)

The fungal genus Collemopsidium comprises species that develop so-called borderline lichen symbioses with algae or cyanobacteria.Together with morphologically similar pyrenocarpous fungi it has been assigned to the family Xanthopyreniaceae.The adscription of this family to higher taxonomic ranks remain uncertain.Using sequence data of five nuclear genomic regions(nuLSU,nuSSU,tef1-α,rpb1 and rpb2)and onemitochondrial locus(mtSSU)we found that the studied representatives of this family are placed in the Dothideomyceta,yet relationships with the classes Dothideomycetes and Arthoniomycetes remain uncertain.We describe the new order Collemopsidiales to accommodate the genus Collemopsidium(paraphyletic as currently understood)and the lichenicolous genus Zwackhiomyces.Using five fungal fossils as calibrations points,we infer an age of c.230 Mya for the crown of Collemopsidiales.Based on two molecular markers,we also provide insight into the global diversity of marine species of the genus Collemopsidium.According to the species delimitation algorithm GMYC,c.26 putative species exist,far more than the six species recognized hitherto.We have confirmed this result by comparing the two alternative species models by means of Bayes factors,using path sampling and stepping-stone sampling algorithms to estimate the marginal likelihood of each model.Finally,our observations suggest rock-boring ability evolved in parallel in the different lineages within this group of fungi.

Fungal species consortia on Nypa fruticans at Brunei

Studies on fungal species consortia of manglicolous fungi are very few.Observations of fungal species consortia may provide an idea on the fungal community structures and help in understanding ecosystem dynamics.In this paper,the fungal species consortia recorded on Nypa fruticans at Brunei is presented.Astrosphaeriella striatispora,Linocarpon appendiculatum,L.bipolaris,Neolinocarpon globosicarpa,Oxydothis nypae and Trichocladium nypae,were the frequently recorded fungi in this study.Three distinct fungal assemblages were found.One of these assemblages was typified by Astrosphaeriella striatispora,Linocarpon nypae and Oxydothis nypae in which the fungi occurred both in association with others as well as singly indicating a commensalistic occurrence.The second assemblage,was characterized by Linocarpon appendiculatum and Linocarpon bipolaris,the fungi occurred almost only in association with others,indicating a mutualistic behavior.The third assemblage was characterized by Anthostomella eructans,Anthostomella sp.and Trichocladium sp.which always occurred singly,indicating a possible antagonistic life style but the percentage occurrence of the last group was far low to attribute any antagonistic potential of these fungi in preventing other fungi from colonization.

Multi-gene phylogeny of Jattaea bruguierae,a novel asexual morph from Bruguiera cylindrica

During our survey on marine-based ascomycetes of southern Thailand,fallen mangrove twigs were collected from the intertidal zones.Those specimens yielded a novel asexual morph of Jattaea(Calosphaeriaceae,Calosphaeriales),Jattaea bruguierae,which is confirmed as a new species by morphological characteristics such as nature and measurements of conidia and conidiophores,as well as a multigene analysis based on combined LSU,SSU,ITS andβ-tubulin sequence data.Jattaea species are abundantly found from wood in terrestrial environments,while the asexual morphs are mostly reported from axenic cultures.Jattaea bruguierae is the first documentation of an asexual morph species from marine-habitats.

Classification of marine Ascomycota,Basidiomycota,Blastocladiomycota and Chytridiomycota

This paper lists the accepted names and classification of marine fungi,updating the scheme presented in 2009.The classification includes 1,112 species(in 472 genera):Ascomycota 805(in 352 genera),Basidiomycota 21 species(in 17 genera),Chytridiomycota and related phyla 26 species(in 13 genera),Zygomycota three(in two genera),Blastocladiomycota one species(one genus),asexual morphs of filamentous fungi 43(in 26 genera);and marine yeasts:Ascomycota 138 species(in 35 genera),Basidiomycota 75 species(in 26 genera).These fungi belong to 129 families and 65 orders.The Halosphaeriaceae remains the largest family of marine fungi with 141 species in 59 genera,while the most specious genera are Aspergillus(47 species),Penicillium(39 species)and the yeast genus Candida(64 species).The review includes details of recent higher order nomenclature changes,and accounts of new families,genera and species described over the past 5 years.

Occurrence and geographical distribution of mangrove fungi

This is a multidimensional review of mangrove fungi occurring as saprobes,pathogens and endophytes of a wide range of host substrates and those isolated from the water columns and sediments in mangroves.Eight-hundred and fifty taxa including 658 that are supported by both morphology and molecular data and 192 with only morphological data are listed.These constitute Ascomycota,the dominant group with 773 species,and 58 Basidiomycota,one Blastocladiomycota,five Chytridiomycota,and 13 Mucoromycota.This study also includes data on mangrove yeasts 103 Ascomycota,39 Basidi-omycota and 193 taxa isolated from sediments.Endophytes isolated from submerged parts of mangrove plants total 38.The most specious orders of mangrove fungi are Pleosporales 133,Saccharomycetales 102,Microascales 101,Eurotiales 87,Hypocreales 60 and Xylariales 54.Speciose genera include Candida 39,Aspergillus 53,Penicillium 17 and Corollospora 16.The highest number of mangrove fungi have been recorded from the Pacific Ocean 553,which is the largest ocean,followed by Indian 408 and Atlantic Oceans 259.Geographical distribution of mangrove fungi varied from ocean to ocean with only 109 taxa common to the Atlantic,Indian and Pacific Oceans.Of the various countries reported for mangrove fungi,India accommodates the highest number(339)followed by Thailand 303,Malaysia 171,Florida Everglades,USA 134 and Brunei 134.A total of 60 different mangrove plants and their associates have been surveyed for mangrove fungi.These results are discussed and compared with previous studies.

In vitro cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity of Talaromyces flavus SP5 inhabited in the marine sediment of Southern Coast of India

Marine sediment samples were collected from the coastal areas of Southern India, particularly in Kanyakumari District. Twenty-eight different fungal strains were isolated. The screening of fungi from marine sediment was done to isolate a potent fungus that can produce bioactive compounds for biomedical applications. Only three strains viz Trichoderma gamsii SP4, Talaromyces flavus SP5 and Aspergillus oryzae SP6 were screened for further studies. The intracellular bioactive compounds were extracted using solvent extraction method. The crude extracts were tested for its anti-microbial and anti-cancer properties and analytically characterized using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry(GC-MS). All the three extracts were active, but the extract from T. flavus SP5 was found to be more active against various human pathogens, viz., Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853(17.8 ± 0.1), Escherichia coli ATCC 52922(18.3 ± 0.3), and Candida tropicalis ATCC 750(17.7 ± 0.4). It also exhibited cytotoxic activity against HEp2 carcinoma cell line with the LC_(50) value of 25.7 μg·mL^(-1). The GC-MS data revealed the presence of effective bioactive compounds. These results revealed that the extract from isolated fungus T. flavus SP5 acted as a potent antimicrobial, antifungal, and anticancer agent, providing basic information on the potency of marine fungi towards biomedical applications; further investigation may lead to the development of novel anticancer drugs.