Marine-derived fungi: diversity of enzymes and biotechnological applications

Abstract

The ocean is considered to be a great reservoir of biodiversity. Microbial communities in marine environments are ecologically relevant as intermediaries of energy, and play an important role in nutrient regeneration cycles as decomposers of dead and decaying organic matter. In this sense, marine-derived fungi can be considered as a source of enzymes of industrial and/or environmental interest. Fungal strains isolated from different substrates, such as invertebrates, decaying wood, seawater, sediments, and mangrove detritus, have been reported to be producers of hydrolytic and/or oxidative enzymes, with alginate lyase, amylase, cellulase, chitinase, glucosidase, inulinase, keratinase, ligninase, lipase, nuclease, phytase, protease, and xylanase being among the enzymes produced by fungi of marine origin. These enzymes present temperature and pH optima ranging from 35 to 70∘C, and 3.0 to 11.0, respectively. High-level production in bioreactors is mainly performed using submerged-state fermentation. Certain marine-derived fungal strains present enzymes with alkaline and cold-activity characteristics, and salinity is considered an important condition in screening and production processes. The adaptability of marine-derived fungi to oceanic conditions can be considered an attractive point in the field of fungal marine biotechnology. In this review, we focus on the advances in discovering enzymes from marine-derived fungi and their biotechnological relevance.

Diverse Metabolic Capacities of Fungi for Bioremediation

“…Recently, Bonugli-Santos et al [32] have documented the significant role of enzymes from marine-derived fungi and their biotechnological relevance. Marine fungi have even been found to tolerate high concentrations of heavy metals such as lead and copper [33] and their interaction with metal ions in marine ecosystems can be used for synthesis of metal nanoparticles of desired properties [34].…”

Xylanase production from marine derivedTrichoderma pleuroticola08ÇK001 strain isolated from Mediterranean coastal sediments

“…Marine environments harbor different physicochemical conditions comparing with terrestrial environments and the properties of enzymes produced by marine microorganisms might be different from terrestrial counterparts due to adaptation to marine environments. Therefore, marine microorganisms are viewed as a new promising source of enzymes with potential technological applications owing to their immense genetic and biochemical diversity .…”

“…Enzyme production from fungal strains is effected from the organism's physiology as well as the composition of the culture media . The presence of salt can be crucial in enzyme production from MDF strains.…”

“…However, the demand for discovering enzymes with great potential and novel properties in industrial applications is progressively increasing. Since the marine environments are less studied compared to terrestrial environments and harbors diverse microbial communities including bacteria, fungi, algae, plankton, and viruses, there has been a growing interest in the study of marine microorganisms, particularly marine‐derived fungi owing to their extracellular enzymes given unique properties thanks to marine environment's conditions including salinity, low temperature, mineral content, pH, and special lightening circumstances .…”

“…Since the most marine‐derived fungal (MDF) strains isolated from the substrates containing lignocellulose have been observed for their capability of secreting xylan‐degrading and xylanolytic enzymes they are used in a broad variety of industrial applications such as animal feed, baking, pulp, paper, food, and textile . Studies focusing on xylanase production from marine microorganisms are quite new and are mostly focused on marine bacteria .…”