Dung‐inhabiting fungi: a potential reservoir of novel secondary metabolites for the control of plant pathogens

Abstract

Coprophilous fungi are a large group of saprotrophic fungi mostly found in herbivore dung. The number of these fungi undergoing investigation is continually increasing, and new species and genera continue to be described. Dung-inhabiting fungi play an important ecological role in decomposing and recycling nutrients from animal dung. They produce a large array of bioactive secondary metabolites and have a potent enzymatic arsenal able to utilise even complex molecules. Bioactive secondary metabolites are actively involved in interaction with and defence against other organisms whose growth can be inhibited, resulting in an enhanced ecological fitness of producer strains. Currently, these antibiotics and bioactive secondary metabolites are of interest in medicine in particular, while very little information is available concerning their potential use in agriculture. This review introduces the ecology of dung-inhabiting fungi, with particular emphasis on the production of antibiotic compounds as a means to compete with other microorganisms. Owing to the fast pace of technological progress, new approaches to predicting the biosynthesis of bioactive metabolites are proposed. Coprophilous fungi should be considered as elite candidate organisms for the discovery of novel antifungal compounds, above all in view of their exploitation for crop protection.

Functional characterization of the sterigmatocystin secondary metabolite gene cluster in the filamentous fungus Podospora anserina: involvement in oxidative stress response, sexual development, pigmentation and interspecific competitions

“…Coprophilous fungi are considered as a potential reservoir for the discovery of novel SMs due to highly interspecific competition by microorganisms inhabiting the complex ecosystem (Bills et al, 2013;Sarrocco, 2016). It is therefore likely that coprophilous fungi are integral to the chemical war occurring in interspecies competition, by producing SMs that kill or inhibit competing microbes.…”

Fusaproliferin, Terpestacin and Their Derivatives Display Variable Allelopathic Activity Against Some Ascomycetous Fungi

“…Among filamentous fungi, dung‐inhabiting ones are, together with fungi from extreme environment, relatively unknown and little studied . Such fungi are continuously under exploration and new genera and species are daily discovered and described …”

“…[13] Some studies suggest that the production of mycotoxins is related to external stresses and that these compounds play a role in the survival of the producers. [14] [15] Being not so much investigated, fimicolous fungi are also considered as an underexplored reservoir of bioactive compounds, mostly with unknown structure and function, [9] whose encoding genes are very frequently present in high number in their genome as ʻorphan genesʼ. [3] Relatively little is known about the chemical ecology of theseand otherfungi and how the production and the activity of these metabolites may be influenced by selection pressure exerted by other organisms.…”

“…Terpestacin (= (3aR,5E,7R,10Z,14E,16aS)-2,7-Dihydroxy-3-[(2S)-1-hydroxypropan-2-yl]-6,10,14,16atetramethyl-4,7,8,9,12,13,16,16a-octahydrocyclopenta[15]annulen-1(3aH)-one; 2). Homogeneous oil.½a 25 D = -17.0 (c = 0.4, CHCl 3 ) (Ref.…”

A complex game of hide and seek: the search for new antifungals

“…130 Many species of fungi have been identified from solid excrement and analyzed for secondary metabolites with antifungal properties. Compounds isolated ranged in class including benzoquinones, polyketides, sesquiterpenes, depsipeptides, and terpenoids.…”