Biotechnological Applications of Halophilic Fungi: Past, Present, and Future

Imran, Ali; Khaliq, Samira; Sajid, Sumbal; Akbar, Ali

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-19030-9_15

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…This is a new paradigm in cell wall biology where similar cell wall modifications only indicate the presence of stress regardless of the nature of the stress encountered by the fungus. These molecular-level insights provide a structural vision of the osmoprotective strategies adopted by halophiles, which could inform the use of these microbes in agricultural applications and biotechnology in extreme environments 8,9 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These molecular-level insights unveiled the structural mechanisms employed by halophiles to cope with osmotic stress. This has implications for the application of these microorganisms in agricultural and biotechnological applications under hypersaline environments that are unfavorable for microbial growth 8,9 . Halophilic fungi have shown great potential in converting agricultural waste to fermentable sugars and remediating hypersaline soils and improving salt-related damage 6,79 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Halophilic and halotolerant fungi inhabit hypersaline habitats and have shown their potential in various industrial applications, such as contaminant treatment of saline wastewater, fermentation-based production of high-value molecules and pharmaceuticals, and biofuel production [6][7][8] . Halophilic fungi also hold promise as a source of transgenes encoding for salt-tolerant proteins to enhance the halotolerance of other organisms 7,9 . These applications have not reached their full potential due to our incomplete understanding of adaptation mechanisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structural Adaptation of Fungal Cell Wall in Hypersaline Environment

Fernando

Pérez-Llano

Widanage

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Halophilic fungi, which thrive in hypersaline habitats and face a range of extreme conditions, have gained considerable attention for their potential applications in harsh industrial processes. However, the role of the cell wall in surviving these environmental conditions remains unclear. Here we employ solid-state NMR spectroscopy to compare the cell wall architecture of Aspergillus sydowii and other halophilic and halotolerant fungi across salinity gradients. Analyses of intact cells reveal that A. sydowii cell walls contain a rigid core comprising chitin, β-glucan, and chitosan, shielded by a surface shell composed of galactomannan and galactosaminogalactan. When exposed to hypersaline conditions, A. sydowii enhances chitin biosynthesis and incorporates α-glucan to create thick, stiff, and hydrophobic cell walls. Such structural rearrangements enable the fungus to adapt to both hypersaline and salt-deprived conditions, providing a robust mechanism for withstanding external stress. These molecular principles can aid in the optimization of halophilic strains for biotechnology applications.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Structural Adaptation of Fungal Cell Wall in Hypersaline Environment

Fernando

Pérez-Llano

Widanage

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…Secretomics of fungal extremophilic and extremotolerant species has recently gained momentum in view of the increasing demand of new natural sources of bioactive compounds by the biotech, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry [354,355]. Proteomics tools are therefore being increasingly applied to the identification of microbial enzymes of biotechnological value and their structural and functional characterization [356][357][358].…”

Section: Secretomicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Overview of Genomics, Phylogenomics and Proteomics Approaches in Ascomycota

Muggia

Ametrano

Sterflinger

et al. 2020

Life

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Fungi are among the most successful eukaryotes on Earth: they have evolved strategies to survive in the most diverse environments and stressful conditions and have been selected and exploited for multiple aims by humans. The characteristic features intrinsic of Fungi have required evolutionary changes and adaptations at deep molecular levels. Omics approaches, nowadays including genomics, metagenomics, phylogenomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics have enormously advanced the way to understand fungal diversity at diverse taxonomic levels, under changeable conditions and in still under-investigated environments. These approaches can be applied both on environmental communities and on individual organisms, either in nature or in axenic culture and have led the traditional morphology-based fungal systematic to increasingly implement molecular-based approaches. The advent of next-generation sequencing technologies was key to boost advances in fungal genomics and proteomics research. Much effort has also been directed towards the development of methodologies for optimal genomic DNA and protein extraction and separation. To date, the amount of proteomics investigations in Ascomycetes exceeds those carried out in any other fungal group. This is primarily due to the preponderance of their involvement in plant and animal diseases and multiple industrial applications, and therefore the need to understand the biological basis of the infectious process to develop mechanisms for biologic control, as well as to detect key proteins with roles in stress survival. Here we chose to present an overview as much comprehensive as possible of the major advances, mainly of the past decade, in the fields of genomics (including phylogenomics) and proteomics of Ascomycota, focusing particularly on those reporting on opportunistic pathogenic, extremophilic, polyextremotolerant and lichenized fungi. We also present a review of the mostly used genome sequencing technologies and methods for DNA sequence and protein analyses applied so far for fungi.

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“…They significantly contribute to the pollution of aquatic ecosystems and world's water resources (Liu et al ., 2020). Mycoremediation has emerged as a promising and eco‐friendly strategy to remove PAHs from environment (Aranda, 2016; Ali et al ., 2019; Prenafeta‐Boldú et al ., 2019). It is based on the metabolic enzymatic transformation of PAHs by fungi into harmless substances (Ward et al ., 2003; Aranda, 2016; Prenafeta‐Boldú et al ., 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcriptomic analysis of polyaromatic hydrocarbon degradation by the halophilic fungus Aspergillus sydowii at hypersaline conditions

Peidro-Guzmán

Pérez-Llano

González-Abradelo

et al. 2020

Environmental Microbiology

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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are among the most persistent xenobiotic compounds, with high toxicity effects. Mycoremediation with halophilic Aspergillus sydowii was used for their removal from a hypersaline medium (1 M NaCl). A. sydowii metabolized PAHs as sole carbon sources, resulting in the removal of up to 90% for both PAHs [benzo [a] pyrene (BaP) and phenanthrene (Phe)] after 10 days. Elimination of Phe and BaP was almost exclusively due to biotransformation and not adsorption by dead mycelium and did not correlate with the activity of lignin modifying enzymes (LME). Transcriptomes of A. sydowii grown on PAHs, or on glucose as control, both at hypersaline conditions, revealed 170 upregulated and 76 downregulated genes. Upregulated genes were related to starvation, cell wall remodelling, degradation and metabolism of xenobiotics, DNA/RNA metabolism, energy generation, signalling and general stress responses. Changes of LME expression levels were not detected, while the chloroperoxidase gene, possibly related to detoxification processes in fungi, was strongly upregulated. We propose that two parallel metabolic pathways (mitochondrial and cytosolic) are involved in degradation and detoxification of PAHs in A. sydowii resulting in intracellular oxidation of PAHs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the most comprehensive transcriptomic analysis on fungal degradation of PAHs.

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Biotechnological Applications of Halophilic Fungi: Past, Present, and Future

Cited by 13 publications

References 46 publications

Structural Adaptation of Fungal Cell Wall in Hypersaline Environment

Structural Adaptation of Fungal Cell Wall in Hypersaline Environment

An Overview of Genomics, Phylogenomics and Proteomics Approaches in Ascomycota

Transcriptomic analysis of polyaromatic hydrocarbon degradation by the halophilic fungus Aspergillus sydowii at hypersaline conditions

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