Review

Authors: Jiantianye Deng, Yilong Li, Yong Yuan...

is the teleomorph genus associated with the section comprises approximately 20 species, which are widely distributed in nature and human environments. is usually the key microorganism for the fermentation of traditional food, such as Fuzhuan brick tea, Liupao tea, Meju, and Karebushi; thus, is an important fungus in the food industry. has been extensively studied because it contains a series of interesting, structurally diverse, and biologically important secondary metabolites, including anthraquinones, benzaldehyde derivatives, and indol diketopiperazine alkaloids. These secondary metabolites have shown multiple biological activities, including antioxidative, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, antitumor, insecticidal, antimalarial, and anti-inflammatory activities. This study presents an up-to-date review of the phytochemistry and biological activities of all species. This review will provide recent advances on the secondary metabolites and their bioactivities in the genus for the first time and serve as a database for future research and drug development from the genus .

PubMed: 38137256
DOI: 10.3390/foods12244452

Authors: Xin Wang, Jinhu Liu, Jianping Wei...

The study explored the potential protective impact of the probiotic fungus in Fuzhuan brick tea on ulcerative colitis, along with the underlying mechanism. A spore suspension of was administered to C57BL/6 mice to alleviate DSS-induced colitis. The findings indicated that administering evidently enhanced the ultrastructure of colonic epithelium, showing characteristics such as enhanced TJ length, reduced microvilli damage, and enlarged intercellular space. After HLL supplementation, the activation of the liver inflammation pathway, including TLR4/NF-kB and NLRP3 inflammasome caused by DSS, was significantly suppressed, and bile acid metabolism, linking liver and gut, was enhanced, manifested by restoration of bile acid receptor (FXR, TGR5) level. The dysbiosis of the gut microbes in colitis mice was also restored by HLL intervention, characterized by the enrichment of beneficial bacteria (, , , and ) and fungi (, , , , and ), which was closely associated with lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism, and was negatively correlated with inflammatory gene expression. Hence, the recovery of gut microbial community structure, implicated deeply in the inflammatory index and metabolites profile, might play a crucial role in the therapeutic mechanism of HLL on colitis.

Topics: Animals; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Dextran Sulfate; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Mice; Eurotium; Tea; Male; Probiotics; Colitis; Dysbiosis; Colon; Liver; Disease Models, Animal; Colitis, Ulcerative; Intestinal Mucosa

PubMed: 38674869
DOI: 10.3390/nu16081178

Review

Authors: Salar Hafez Ghoran, Fatemeh Taktaz, Emília Sousa...

Marine natural products are well-recognized as potential resources to fill the pipeline of drug leads to enter the pharmaceutical industry. In this circumstance, marine-derived fungi are one of the unique sources of bioactive secondary metabolites due to their capacity to produce diverse polyketides and peptides with unique structures and diverse biological activities. The present review covers the peptides from marine-derived fungi reported from the literature published from January 1991 to June 2023, and various scientific databases, including Elsevier, ACS publications, Taylor and Francis, Wiley Online Library, MDPI, Springer, Thieme, Bentham, ProQuest, and the Marine Pharmacology website, are used for a literature search. This review focuses on chemical characteristics, sources, and biological and pharmacological activities of 366 marine fungal peptides belonging to various classes, such as linear, cyclic, and depsipeptides. Among 30 marine-derived fungal genera, isolated from marine macro-organisms such as marine algae, sponges, coral, and mangrove plants, as well as deep sea sediments, species of were found to produce the highest number of peptides (174 peptides), followed by (23 peptides), (22 peptides), (18 peptides), (18 peptides), (17 peptides), and (12 peptides). The cytotoxic activity against a broad spectrum of human cancer cell lines was the predominant biological activity of the reported marine peptides (32%), whereas antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and various enzyme inhibition activities ranged from 7% to 20%. In the first part of this review, the chemistry of marine peptides is discussed and followed by their biological activity.

Topics: Humans; Aspergillus; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antineoplastic Agents; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Peptides; Biological Products; Aquatic Organisms; Fungi

PubMed: 37888445
DOI: 10.3390/md21100510

Authors: Shuai Xu, Yufei Zhou, Lijun Yu...

Electronic-cigarette smoke (eCS) has been shown to cause a degree of oxidative stress and inflammatory damage in lung tissue. The aim of this study was to evaluate the repair mechanism of fermented loose dark tea (ECT) and particle metabolites (ECP) sifted from ECT after eCS-induced injury in mice. Sixty C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into a blank control group, an eCS model group, an eCS + 600 mg/kg ECP treatment group, an eCS + 600 mg/kg ECT treatment group, an eCS + 600 mg/kg ECP prevention group, and an eCS + 600 mg/kg ECT prevention group. The results show that ECP and ECT significantly reduced the eCS-induced oxidative stress and inflammation and improved histopathological changes in the lungs in mice with eCS-induced liver injury. Western blot analysis further revealed that ECP and ECT significantly inhibited the eCS-induced upregulation of the phosphorylation levels of the extracellular Regulated protein Kinases (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38mitogen-activated protein kinases (p38MAPK) proteins, and significantly increased the eCS-induced downregulation of the expression levels of the pregnane X receptor (PXR) and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) proteins. Conclusively, these findings show that ECP and ECT have a significant repairing effect on the damage caused by eCS exposure through the MAPK and PXR/AhR signaling pathways; ECT has a better effect on preventing eCS-induced injury and is suitable as a daily healthcare drink; ECP has a better therapeutic effect after eCS-induced injury, and might be a potential therapeutic candidate for the treatment of eCS-induced injury.

Topics: Animals; Aspergillus; Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems; Eurotium; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Pregnane X Receptor; Protein Kinases; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon; Signal Transduction; Tea

PubMed: 35889800
DOI: 10.3390/nu14142843

Authors: Tatiana A Efimenko, Elena F Shanenko, Tatiana G Mukhamedzhanova...

Fungi spp. are the main biological agents that ferment the leaves of the tea bush to form a popular food product, postfermented tea. The fungus , stored in the collection of the Gause Institute of New Antibiotics under the number INA 01267, was isolated and identified from a briquette of Fujian Chinese tea. The species identification was carried out based on morphocultural characteristics and DNA sequencing. This study is aimed at determining the feasibility of making postfermented herbal teas using and to evaluate their quality. Autofermented herbal teas from (fireweed) and (apple tree) served as the starting material for this study. The change in the concentration of phenolic compounds, organic acids, sugars, and free amino acids was observed for herbal teas subjected to postfermentation with INA 01267. It was found that the INA 01267 strain does not have antimicrobial activity and does not form mycotoxins, which is an indicator of food safety.

PubMed: 34631875
DOI: 10.1155/2021/6691428

Review

Authors: Salar Hafez Ghoran, Fatemeh Taktaz, Seyed Abdulmajid Ayatollahi...

Anthraquinones are an interesting chemical class of polyketides since they not only exhibit a myriad of biological activities but also contribute to managing ecological roles. In this review article, we provide a current knowledge on the anthraquinoids reported from marine-derived fungi, isolated from various resources in both shallow waters such as mangrove plants and sediments of the mangrove habitat, coral reef, algae, sponges, and deep sea. This review also tentatively categorizes anthraquinone metabolites from the simplest to the most complicated scaffolds such as conjugated xanthone-anthraquinone derivatives and bianthraquinones, which have been isolated from marine-derived fungi especially from the genera , , , , , , , , and other fungal strains. The present review, covering a range from 2000 to 2021, was elaborated through a comprehensive literature search using the following databases: ACS publications, Elsevier, Taylor and Francis, Wiley Online Library, MDPI, Springer, and Thieme. Thereupon, we have summarized and categorized 296 anthraquinones and their derivatives, some of which showed a variety of biological properties such as enzyme inhibition, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antitubercular (against ), cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, antifouling, and antioxidant activities. In addition, proposed biogenetic pathways of some anthraquinone derivatives are also discussed.

Topics: Anthraquinones; Antifungal Agents; Ascomycota; Fungi; Penicillium; Polyketides

PubMed: 35892942
DOI: 10.3390/md20080474

Authors: Fatmah A S Alasmary, Amani S Awaad, Mehnaz Kamal...

Total extracts of and in addition of two isolated compounds from their cultures [-2-ethylhexyl phthalate () and 1,8-Dihydroxy-3-methoxy-6-methyl-anthraquinone ()] were tested for their antitumor activity using four human carcinoma cell lines. Antitumor activity was assessed by performing MTT assay to check the % cell viability. The % viability of HCT-116 (colon carcinoma), HeLa (cervical carcinoma), HEp-2 (larynx carcinoma) and HepG-2 (hepatocellular carcinoma) cells decreased after treatment with and extracts, these effects were ranged from 059.0 ±  0.1 to 217.0  ±  0.3 µg/ml on all types of cancer cells. The best activity was recorded for extract (054.5 ± 0.3, 059.0 ± 0.5 and 059.0 ± 0.1 for HEp-2, Hela, and HepG-2 respectively). The isolated compounds (&) were found to be responsible about the activities because they recorded the lowest IC on tested cell lines with range of 9.5-20.3 μg/ml. Vinblastine sulphate was used as a reference standard and showed anticancer activity. This study demonstrated that all extracts and isolated compounds have antitumor activity against HCT-116, HeLa, HEp-2 and HepG-2 cells.

PubMed: 30166929
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsps.2017.11.011

Authors: Mariana Greco, Graciela Pose, Alejandro Pardo...

Animal feeds are characterized by low water activity values. Nevertheless, fungal contamination with Eurotium species are quite common, causing nutritional depletion, spoilage and economic losses. The aim of this work was to assess Eurotium amstelodami, E. chevalieri, E. repens and E. rubrum growth in a feed matrix at different conditions of water activity (0.71-0.97) and temperature (5, 15, 25, 30 and 37°C). It was found that Eurotium species are able to grow in a wide range of water activity and temperature in a short period of time (7 days) and faster than in synthetic media. Rosso and probabilistic models were applied in order to determine the limiting and optimum growth conditions as well as growth probability at certain combinations of environmental factors. Both models provided an accurate fit to the cardinal parameters and good performance for growth/no growth cases. This is the first report assessing the growth parameters of Eurotium species directly in animal feed. Data obtained in the present study is useful to predict and avoid Eurotium species growth in animal feed.

Topics: Animals; Aspergillus; Eurotium; Temperature; Water

PubMed: 33384198
DOI: 10.1016/j.ram.2020.09.006

Authors: Anna Micheluz, Flavia Pinzari, Edgard G Rivera-Valentín...

is psychrotolerant, halophilic, and one of the most-extreme xerophiles in Earth's biosphere. We already know that this ascomycete grows close to 0 °C, at high NaCl, and-under some conditions-down to 0.651 water-activity. However, there is a paucity of information about how it achieves this extreme stress tolerance given the dynamic water regimes of the surface habitats on which it commonly occurs. Here, against the backdrop of global climate change, we investigated the biophysical interactions of with its extracellular environment using samples taken from the surfaces of library books. The specific aims were to examine its morphology and extracellular environment (using scanning electron microscopy for visualisation and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry to identify chemical elements) and investigate interactions with water, ions, and minerals (including analyses of temperature and relative humidity conditions and determinations of salt deliquescence and water activity of extracellular brine). We observed crystals identified as eugsterite (NaCa(SO)·2HO) and mirabilite (NaSO·10HO) embedded within extracellular polymeric substances and provide evidence that uses salt deliquescence to maintain conditions consistent with its water-activity window for growth. In addition, it utilizes a covering of hair-like microfilaments that likely absorb water and maintain a layer of humid air adjacent to the hyphae. We believe that, along with compatible solutes used for osmotic adjustment, these adaptations allow the fungus to maintain hydration in both space and time. We discuss these findings in relation to the conservation of books and other artifacts within the built environment, spoilage of foods and feeds, the ecology of in natural habitats, and the current episode of climate change.

PubMed: 36558795
DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11121462

Authors: A J Chen, V Hubka, J C Frisvad...

section (formerly the genus ) includes xerophilic species with uniseriate conidiophores, globose to subglobose vesicles, green conidia and yellow, thin walled eurotium-like ascomata with hyaline, lenticular ascospores. In the present study, a polyphasic approach using morphological characters, extrolites, physiological characters and phylogeny was applied to investigate the taxonomy of this section. Over 500 strains from various culture collections and new isolates obtained from indoor environments and a wide range of substrates all over the world were identified using calmodulin gene sequencing. Of these, 163 isolates were subjected to molecular phylogenetic analyses using sequences of ITS rDNA, partial β-tubulin (), calmodulin () and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit () genes. Colony characteristics were documented on eight cultivation media, growth parameters at three incubation temperatures were recorded and micromorphology was examined using light microscopy as well as scanning electron microscopy to illustrate and characterize each species. Many specific extrolites were extracted and identified from cultures, including echinulins, epiheveadrides, auroglaucins and anthraquinone bisanthrons, and to be consistent in strains of nearly all species. Other extrolites are species-specific, and thus valuable for identification. Several extrolites show antioxidant effects, which may be nutritionally beneficial in food and beverages. Important mycotoxins in the strict sense, such as sterigmatocystin, aflatoxins, ochratoxins, citrinin were not detected despite previous reports on their production in this section. Adopting a polyphasic approach, 31 species are recognized, including nine new species. ITS is highly conserved in this section and does not distinguish species. All species can be differentiated using or sequences. For , and share identical sequences. Ascospores and conidia morphology, growth rates at different temperatures are most useful characters for phenotypic species identification.

PubMed: 28860671
DOI: 10.1016/j.simyco.2017.07.001