Discovery and Biosynthesis of Fungal Natural Products, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Fungal Cell Biology, Metabolism and Physiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 3125

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: fungal secondary metabolites; combinatorial biosynthesis; genome mining; new tools or techniques; biological and ecological function of fungal natural product
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Guest Editor
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, South-Central Minzu University, Wuhan, China
Interests: fungal natural products; biosynthesis or combinatorial biosynthesis; novel enzymes or catalytic mechanism; natural product (total) synthesis; biological function of natural or semisynthetic products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As an important source of natural products, fungi play a special role in medicine, food, brewing and other fields, and also play an irreplaceable role in biology and ecology. With the higher needs of human beings in the field of health, more and more new methods and techniques have been applied to the discovery of natural products with novel structures and significant biological activities. However, the current methods are still unable to meet the pace of rapid development of human society. We need to continue to develop new research methods and explore biological functional active molecules beneficial to human health under the premise of following the laws of nature. Benefit from the abundant resources and powerful genetic manipulation space of fungi, humans will make great achievements in the field of natural products of fungi.

Prof. Dr. Wenbing Yin
Prof. Dr. Xiaolong Yang
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • secondary metabolites
  • fungal natural products
  • heterologous expression
  • biosynthesis
  • combinatorial biosynthesis
  • novel enzymes
  • new techniques

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 2066 KiB  
Article
Global Analysis of Natural Products Biosynthetic Diversity Encoded in Fungal Genomes
by Shu Zhang, Guohui Shi, Xinran Xu, Xu Guo, Sijia Li, Zhiyuan Li, Qi Wu and Wen-Bing Yin
J. Fungi 2024, 10(9), 653; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10090653 - 13 Sep 2024
Abstract
Fungal secondary metabolites (SMs) represent an invaluable source of therapeutic drugs. Genomics-based approaches to SM discovery have revealed a vast and largely untapped biosynthetic potential within fungal genomes. Here, we used the publicly available fungal genome sequences from the NCBI public database, as [...] Read more.
Fungal secondary metabolites (SMs) represent an invaluable source of therapeutic drugs. Genomics-based approaches to SM discovery have revealed a vast and largely untapped biosynthetic potential within fungal genomes. Here, we used the publicly available fungal genome sequences from the NCBI public database, as well as tools such as antiSMASH, BIG-SLiCE, etc., to analyze a total of 11,598 fungal genomes, identifying 293,926 biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), which were subsequently categorized into 26,825 gene cluster families (GCFs). It was discovered that only a tiny fraction, less than 1%, of these GCFs could be mapped to known natural products (NPs). Some GCFs that only contain a single BGC internally are crucial for the biodiversity of fungal biosynthesis. Evident patterns emerged from our analysis, revealing popular taxa as prominent sources of both actual and potential biosynthetic diversity. Our study also suggests that the genus rank distribution of GCF is generally consistent with NP diversity. It is noteworthy that genera Xylaria, Hypoxylon, Colletotrichum, Diaporthe, Nemania, and Calonectria appear to possess a higher potential for SM synthesis. In addition, 7213 BGCs match possible known compound structures, and homologous gene clusters of well-known drugs can be located in different genera, facilitating the development of derivatives that share structural similarity to these drugs and may potentially possess similar biological activity. Our study demonstrated the various types of fungi with mining potential, assisting researchers in prioritizing their research efforts and avoiding duplicate mining of known resources to further explore fungal NP producers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Discovery and Biosynthesis of Fungal Natural Products, 2nd Edition)
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15 pages, 3278 KiB  
Article
Metabolomic Profiling and Biological Investigation of the Marine Sponge-Derived Fungus Aspergillus sp. SYPUF29 in Response to NO Condition
by Jiao Xiao, Xiuping Lin, Yanqiu Yang, Yingshu Yu, Yinyin Li, Mengjie Xu and Yonghong Liu
J. Fungi 2024, 10(9), 636; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10090636 - 5 Sep 2024
Abstract
Marine-derived fungi are assuming an increasingly central role in the search for natural leading compounds with unique chemical structures and diverse pharmacological properties. However, some gene clusters are not expressed under laboratory conditions. In this study, we have found that a marine-derived fungus [...] Read more.
Marine-derived fungi are assuming an increasingly central role in the search for natural leading compounds with unique chemical structures and diverse pharmacological properties. However, some gene clusters are not expressed under laboratory conditions. In this study, we have found that a marine-derived fungus Aspergillus sp. SYPUF29 would survive well by adding an exogenous nitric oxide donor (sodium nitroprusside, SNP) and nitric oxide synthetase inhibitor (L-NG-nitroarginine methyl ester, L-NAME) in culture conditions. Moreover, using the LC-MS/MS, we initially assessed and characterized the difference in metabolites of Aspergillus sp. SYPUF29 with or without an additional source of nitrogen. We have found that the metabolic pathway of Arginine and proline metabolism pathways was highly enriched, which was conducive to the accumulation of alkaloids and nitrogen-containing compounds after adding an additional source of nitrogen in the cultivated condition. Additionally, the in vitro anti-neuroinflammatory study showed that the extracts after SNP and L-NAME were administrated can potently inhibit LPS-induced NO-releasing of BV2 cells with lower IC50 value than without nitric oxide. Further Western blotting assays have demonstrated that the mechanism of these extracts was associated with the TLR4 signaling pathway. Additionally, the chemical investigation was conducted and led to nine compounds (SF1SF9) from AS1; and six of them belonged to alkaloids and nitrogen-containing compounds (SF1SF6), of which SF1, SF2, and SF8 exhibited stronger activities than the positive control, and showed potential to develop the inhibitors of neuroinflammation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Discovery and Biosynthesis of Fungal Natural Products, 2nd Edition)
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Review

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19 pages, 3119 KiB  
Review
Secondary Metabolites of Fomitopsis betulina: Chemical Structures, Biological Activity and Application Prospects
by Jianghao Li, Ziheng Li, Yingce Duan, Chengwei Liu and Meixia Yan
J. Fungi 2024, 10(9), 616; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10090616 - 29 Aug 2024
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Abstract
Fomitopsis betulina, as a macrofungus with both medicinal and dietary applications, is renowned for its rich content of bioactive substances. The recent advancements in research have significantly enhanced our understanding of its polysaccharides, cellulose-degrading enzymes, and wide range of secondary metabolites. This [...] Read more.
Fomitopsis betulina, as a macrofungus with both medicinal and dietary applications, is renowned for its rich content of bioactive substances. The recent advancements in research have significantly enhanced our understanding of its polysaccharides, cellulose-degrading enzymes, and wide range of secondary metabolites. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the artificial cultivation techniques and the chemical profiling of over 100 secondary metabolites identified in F. betulina, including terpenoids, phenols, and various other classes. These compounds exhibit notable pharmacological activities, such as anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, and anti-malarial effects. Moreover, this review delves into the genomic analysis of F. betulina, focusing on the prediction and classification of terpene synthases, which play a crucial role in the biosynthesis of these bioactive compounds. This insight is instrumental for potentially facilitating future biochemical studies and pharmaceutical applications. Through this review, we aim to solidify the foundation for future in-depth studies and the development of new drugs derived from this promising natural resource. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Discovery and Biosynthesis of Fungal Natural Products, 2nd Edition)
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