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Toxins Aug 2019Citrus are vulnerable to the postharvest decay caused by , , and , which are responsible for the green mold, blue mold, and sour rot post-harvest disease, respectively.... (Review)
Review
Citrus are vulnerable to the postharvest decay caused by , , and , which are responsible for the green mold, blue mold, and sour rot post-harvest disease, respectively. The widespread economic losses in citriculture caused by these phytopathogens are minimized with the use of synthetic fungicides such as imazalil, thiabendazole, pyrimethanil, and fludioxonil, which are mainly employed as control agents and may have harmful effects on human health and environment. To date, numerous non-chemical postharvest treatments have been investigated for the control of these pathogens. Several studies demonstrated that biological control using microbial antagonists and natural products can be effective in controlling postharvest diseases in citrus, as well as the most used commercial fungicides. Therefore, microbial agents represent a considerably safer and low toxicity alternative to synthetic fungicides. In the present review, these biological control strategies as alternative to the chemical fungicides are summarized here and new challenges regarding the development of shelf-stable formulated biocontrol products are also discussed.
Topics: Citrus; Fungicides, Industrial; Geotrichum; Penicillium; Pest Control, Biological
PubMed: 31390769
DOI: 10.3390/toxins11080460 -
3 Biotech Mar 2020genus constituted by over 200 species is one of the largest and fascinating groups of fungi, particularly well established as a source of antibiotics. Endophytic has... (Review)
Review
genus constituted by over 200 species is one of the largest and fascinating groups of fungi, particularly well established as a source of antibiotics. Endophytic has been reported to colonize their ecological niches and protect their host plant against multiples stresses by exhibiting diverse biological functions that can be exploited for countless applications including agricultural, biotechnological, and pharmaceutical. Over the past 2 decades, endophytic species have been investigated beyond their antibiotic potential and numerous applications have been reported. We comprehensively summarized in this review available data (2000-2019) regarding bioactive compounds isolated from endophytic species as well as the application of these fungi in multiple agricultural and biotechnological processes. This review has shown that a very large number (131) of endophytes from this genus have been investigated so far and more than 280 compounds exhibiting antimicrobial, anticancer, antiviral, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, antiparasitics, immunosuppressants, antidiabetic, anti-obesity, antifibrotic, neuroprotective effects, and insecticidal and biocontrol activities have been reported. Moreover, several endophytic spp. have been characterized as biocatalysts, plant growth promoters, phytoremediators, and enzyme producers. We hope that this review summarizes the status of research on this genus and will stimulate further investigations.
PubMed: 32095421
DOI: 10.1007/s13205-020-2081-1 -
MBio Dec 2019Domestication led to profound changes in human culture. During this period, humans used breeding strategies to select for desirable traits in crops and livestock. These...
Domestication led to profound changes in human culture. During this period, humans used breeding strategies to select for desirable traits in crops and livestock. These practices led to genetic and phenotypic changes that are trackable through archaeological and genomic records. Bacteria, yeasts, and molds also experienced domestication during the agricultural revolution, but the effects of domestication on microbes are poorly understood in comparison to plants and animals. Bodinaku et al. used experimental evolution to track the phenotypic changes that occur when wild molds specialize and adapt to the cheese environment (I. Bodinaku, J. Shaffer, A. B. Connors, J. L. Steenwyk, et al., mBio 10:e02445-19, 2019, https://mbio.asm.org/content/10/5/e02445-19.long). Amazingly, after only eight generations of growth in a laboratory cheese environment, mutants emerged whose traits resembled those of the Brie and Camembert cheese mold This study demonstrated that the early stages of microbial domestication can occur rapidly and suggested that experimental evolution may be a viable strategy to exploit the metabolic diversity of wild microbes for food fermentation.
Topics: Animals; Cheese; Domestication; Food Microbiology; Fungi; Humans; Penicillium
PubMed: 31848293
DOI: 10.1128/mBio.03031-19 -
Comptes Rendus Biologies Oct 2020Domestication is the process of organism evolution under selection by humans, and as such has been a model for studying adaptation since Charles Darwin. Here we review... (Review)
Review
Domestication is the process of organism evolution under selection by humans, and as such has been a model for studying adaptation since Charles Darwin. Here we review recent studies on the genomics of adaptation and domestication syndrome in two cheese-making fungal lineages, Penicillium roqueforti used for maturing blue cheeses, and the Penicillium camemberti species complex used for making soft cheeses such as Camembert and Brie. Comparative genomics have revealed horizontal gene transfers involved in convergent adaptation to cheese. Population genomics have identified differentiated populations with contrasted traits, several populations having independently been domesticated for cheese making in both P. roqueforti and the Penicillium camemberti species complex, and having undergone bottlenecks. The different cheese populations have acquired traits beneficial for cheese making in comparison to non-cheese populations, regarding color, spore production, growth rates on cheese, salt tolerance, lipolysis, proteolysis, volatile compound or toxin production and/or competitive ability. The cheese populations also show degeneration for some unused functions such as decreased ability of sexual reproduction or of growth under harsh conditions. These recent findings have fundamental importance for our understanding of adaptation and have applied interest for strain improvement.
Topics: Cheese; Domestication; Gene Transfer, Horizontal; Humans; Penicillium
PubMed: 33108120
DOI: 10.5802/crbiol.15 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jan 2021Marine fungi produce many halogenated metabolites with a variety of structures, from acyclic entities with a simple linear chain to multifaceted polycyclic molecules.... (Review)
Review
Marine fungi produce many halogenated metabolites with a variety of structures, from acyclic entities with a simple linear chain to multifaceted polycyclic molecules. Over the past few decades, their pharmaceutical and medical application have been explored and still the door is kept open due to the need of new drugs from relatively underexplored sources. Biological properties of halogenated compounds such as anticancer, antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antifouling, and insecticidal activity have been investigated. This review describes the chemical structures and biological activities of 217 halogenated compounds derived mainly from and marine fungal strains reported from 1994 to 2019.
Topics: Aquatic Organisms; Aspergillus; Hydrocarbons, Halogenated; Penicillium
PubMed: 33467200
DOI: 10.3390/molecules26020458 -
Journal of Industrial Microbiology &... Aug 2021Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) are large multimodular enzymes that synthesize a diverse variety of peptides. Many of these are currently used as... (Review)
Review
Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) are large multimodular enzymes that synthesize a diverse variety of peptides. Many of these are currently used as pharmaceuticals, thanks to their activity as antimicrobials (penicillin, vancomycin, daptomycin, echinocandin), immunosuppressant (cyclosporin) and anticancer compounds (bleomycin). Because of their biotechnological potential, NRPSs have been extensively studied in the past decades. In this review, we provide an overview of the main structural and functional features of these enzymes, and we consider the challenges and prospects of engineering NRPSs for the synthesis of novel compounds. Furthermore, we discuss secondary metabolism and NRP synthesis in the filamentous fungus Penicillium rubens and examine its potential for the production of novel and modified β-lactam antibiotics.
Topics: Penicillium; Peptide Biosynthesis, Nucleic Acid-Independent; Peptide Synthases
PubMed: 34279620
DOI: 10.1093/jimb/kuab045 -
Scientific Reports Sep 2019Members of the genus Penicillium are commonly isolated from various terrestrial and marine environments, and play an important ecological role as a decomposer. To gain...
Members of the genus Penicillium are commonly isolated from various terrestrial and marine environments, and play an important ecological role as a decomposer. To gain insight into the ecological role of Penicillium in intertidal zones, we investigated the Penicillium diversity and community structure using a culture-dependent technique and a culture independent metagenomic approach using ITS (ITS-NGS) and partial β-tubulin (BenA-NGS) as targets. The obtained isolates were tested for halotolerance, enzyme activity, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) degradation. A total of 96 Penicillium species were identified from the investigated intertidal zones. Although the BenA-NGS method was efficient for detecting Penicillium, some species were only detected using conventional isolation and/or the ITS-NGS method. The Penicillium community displayed a significant degree of variation relative to season (summer and winter) and seaside (western and southern coast). Many Penicillium species isolated in this study exhibited cellulase and protease activity, and/or degradation of PAHs. These findings support the important role of Penicillium in the intertidal zone for nutrient recycling and pollutant degradation.
Topics: Classification; DNA, Fungal; Enzyme Activation; Geologic Sediments; Penicillium; Phylogeny; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Tidal Waves
PubMed: 31537866
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49966-5 -
Toxins Oct 2021is a necrotrophic plant pathogen among the most ubiquitous fungi disseminated worldwide. It causes blue mould rot in apples during storage, transport and sale,...
is a necrotrophic plant pathogen among the most ubiquitous fungi disseminated worldwide. It causes blue mould rot in apples during storage, transport and sale, threatening human health by secreting patulin, a toxic secondary metabolite that contaminates apples and apple-derived products. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of sufficient data regarding the resistance of different apple cultivars to especially ancient ones, which showed to possess certain resistance to plant diseases. In this work, we investigated the polyphenol profile of 12 traditional and 8 conventional apple cultivar and their resistance to CBS 325.48. Eight polyphenolic compounds were detected; the most prominent were catechin, epicatechin and gallic acid. The highest content of catechin was detected in 'Apistar'-91.26 mg/100 g of fresh weight (FW), epicatechin in 'Bobovac'-67.00 mg/100 g of FW, and gallic acid in 'Bobovac' and 'Kraljevčica'-8.35 and 7.40 mg/100 g of FW, respectively. The highest content of patulin was detected in 'Kraljevčica' followed by 'Apistar'-1687 and 1435 µg/kg, respectively. In apple cultivars 'Brčko', 'Adamčica' and 'Idared', patulin was not detected. Furthermore, the patulin content was positively correlated with gallic acid (r = 0.4226; = 0.002), catechin (r = 0.3717; = 0.008) and epicatechin (r = 0.3305; = 0.019). This fact indicates that higher contents of gallic acid, catechin and epicatechin negatively affected and boost patulin concentration in examined apple cultivars. This can be related to the prooxidant activity of polyphenolic compounds and sensitivity of to the disturbance of oxidative status.
Topics: Food Microbiology; Fruit; Malus; Patulin; Penicillium; Plant Breeding; Plant Diseases
PubMed: 34678996
DOI: 10.3390/toxins13100703 -
Phytochemistry May 2023Penicillium fungi are represented by various species and can be found worldwide and thrive in a range of environments, such as in the soil, air, and indoors, and in...
Penicillium fungi are represented by various species and can be found worldwide and thrive in a range of environments, such as in the soil, air, and indoors, and in marine environments, as well as food products. Chemical investigation of species of this genus has led to the discovery of compounds from several structural classes with varied bioactivities. As an example, this genus has been a source of bioactive and structurally unusual steroids. The scope of this short review is to cover specialized metabolites of the steroid class and the cytotoxic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory as well as phytotoxic activities of these compounds. Other steroids that possess unusual structures, with significant bioactivity yet to determined, will also be discussed to further demonstrate the structural diversity of this compound class from Penicillium fungi, and hopefully inspire the further exploration of such compounds to uncover their activity.
Topics: Penicillium; Fungi; Anti-Infective Agents; Steroids; Antineoplastic Agents
PubMed: 36914145
DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2023.113638 -
International Journal of Molecular... Dec 2020, one of the most common fungi occurring in a diverse range of habitats, has a worldwide distribution and a large economic impact on human health. Hundreds of the... (Review)
Review
, one of the most common fungi occurring in a diverse range of habitats, has a worldwide distribution and a large economic impact on human health. Hundreds of the species belonging to this genus cause disastrous decay in food crops and are able to produce a varied range of secondary metabolites, from which we can distinguish harmful mycotoxins. Some species are considered to be important producers of patulin and ochratoxin A, two well-known mycotoxins. The production of these mycotoxins and other secondary metabolites is controlled and regulated by different mechanisms. The aim of this review is to highlight the different levels of regulation of secondary metabolites in the genus.
Topics: Cyclic AMP; Epigenesis, Genetic; Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; Multigene Family; Mycotoxins; Osmoregulation; Penicillium; Secondary Metabolism; Transcription Factors; Virulence
PubMed: 33322713
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21249462