Diversity of microbial products—discovery and application

Abstract

Natural products derived from micro-organisms, plants and animals possess inherent biological properties and are, therefore, an excellent source of lead chemicals on which to base synthesis programmes employing rational design techniques. Only a fraction of the fungal kingdom has been screened systematically for novel metabolites despite their suspected potential. Moreover, the fungi are generally manipulable in laboratory culture systems and, because of their developmental versatility, they offer tremendous potential as sources of novel metabolites. Primary assay systems based on biochemical targets provide an effective means of screening microbial products; such assay systems also efficiently support chemical purification of lead activities and rapid elucidation of new chemical templates.

Toxicidade de filtrados fúngicos a meloidogyne incognita

“…Nos últimos anos a sociedade tem priorizado aspectos ambientais, direcionando muitas pesquisas para a descoberta de novas substâncias bioativas que possam ser empregadas no manejo integrado de pragas e doenças, com menos efeitos negativos sobre o meio ambiente (Castro, 1989). Conseqüentemente, vários são os trabalhos que buscam tais substâncias nos fungos que perfazem um grande número de espécies com potencial para a produção de metabólitos com diversas atividades biológicas (Porter & Fox, 1993).…”

PCR Primers That Amplify Fungal rRNA Genes from Environmental Samples

“…They have also proven to be effective curative agents; for example, Saccharomyces boulardii can prevent Clostridium difficile toxicity and other intestinal disturbances caused by antibiotic usage (6). In the biotechnology arena, fungi produce numerous secondary metabolites that have valuable pharmaceutical properties (24). Their importance to this industry and other bioprospecting endeavors is enhanced by the vast diversity of extant fungi (10).…”

Attempted isolation and success in the culturing of a broad spectrum of lichen‐forming and lichenicolous fungi

“…During the past 10 yr there has been a resurgence of interest in fungi and other microorganisms as sources of novel, pharmacologically active molecules (e,g, Nisbet & Porter, 1989;Monoghan & Tkacz, 1990;Porter & Fox, 1993), Lichen-forming fungi produce a wide range of natural products among which c, 350 secondary metabolites have been identified (Elix, Whitton & Sargent, 1984;Galun & Shomer-Ilan, 1988); many are unique to lichens and an appreciable number have been shown to have antimicrobial activity (e,g, Ingdlfsdottir, Bloomfield & Hylands, 1985;Lawrey, 1986;Xavier Filho, Leite & Lima, 1990) or other biological activities of potential economic value (e,g, Nishitoba et al, 1987;Lima et al, 1990;Higuchi et al 1993), The toxic properties of lichen products suggest that they might function in the chemical defence of lichen thalli against pathogens and grazing animals (Lawrey, 1986(Lawrey, , 1989Emmerich et al, 1993), Lichen-forming fungi have been shown to retain in axenic culture the capacity to biosynthesize secondary products found in the lichenised state (Leuckert et al, 1990;Culberson & Armaleo, 1992;Culberson, Culberson & Johnson, 1992) although the metabolites produced in the greatest abundance might differ from those found in the lichen (Leuckert et al, 1990;Miyagawa et al, 1993 ;Hamada, 1993), Intact lichens cannot be cultivated readily and the majority of species are thin crusts (Honegger, 1993) which are often immersed in rock or bark substrata, making the harvesting of natural populations impractical. Furthermore, large scale collection programmes are likely to conflict with conservation interests.…”