Effects of plant-derived naphthoquinones on the growth of Pleurotus sajor-caju and degradation of the compounds by fungal cultures

Abstract

The growth of the white‐rot basidiomycete Pleurotus sajor‐caju in malt‐agar plates was inhibited by three naturally occurring, plant‐derived naphthoquinones: juglone, lawsone, and plumbagin. The latter two compounds exerted the most potent antifungal activity, and lawsone killed the mycelium at concentrations higher than 200 ppm. Plates containing juglone and lawsone presented large decolorized areas extending from area of fungal growth, suggesting an extracellular enzymatic degradation of these quinones. Screening of culture plates for extracellular enzymatic activities revealed the presence of both laccase and veratryl alcohol oxidase in most plates, the diffusion of both enzymes matching the decolorized area. In agitated cultures, the presence of juglone was found to stimulate the production of veratryl alcohol oxidase in a significant manner. This is the first time degradation of plant derived naphthoquinones by a white‐rot fungus is reported.

A role of ygfZ in the Escherichia coli response to plumbagin challenge

“…It has been found to have antibacterial [1], antifungal [2], anticancer [3], and antimutagenic activities [4]. Similar to redox-cycling chemicals such as paraquat and menadione (vitamin K3), plumbagin generates superoxide or reactive oxygen species that trigger the oxidative stress response [5].…”

Enhanced plumbagin production from in vitro cultures of Drosera burmanii using elicitation

“…The naphthoquinone, plumbagin, is the major active compound in D. burmanii (Jayaram and Prasad 2005) and has various pharmacological activities, including anti-microbial (Krolicka et al 2008;Curreli et al 2001), anti-cancer (Lin et al 2003), anti-malarial (Likhitwitayawuid et al 1998) and anti-insecticidal (Medentsev and Akimenko 1998) properties. Because of its pharmacological benefits, high-plumbagin producing plants are of interest.…”

Proteomics Analyses ofBacillus subtilisafter Treatment with Plumbagin, a Plant-Derived Naphthoquinone

“…It has a wide range of activities, including anticancer (Acharya et al, 2008;Gomathinayagam et al, 2008), anti-malarial (Krungkrai et al, 2002), anti-fungal (Curreli, et al, 2001), anti-inflammatory (Luo et al, 2010), and antimutagenic activity (Edenharder and Tang, 1997). It also possesses anti-bacterial activity by generating reactive oxygen species, affecting respiratory process (Imlay and Fridovich, 1992), inhibiting NADH dehydrogenase (Imlay and Fridovich, 1992), and lactose carriers (Neuhaus and Wright, 1983).…”