Microbial Communities of Cladonia Lichens and Their Biosynthetic Gene Clusters Potentially Encoding Natural Products

Shishido, Tânia Keiko; Wahlsten, Matti; Laine, Pia; Rikkinen, Jouko; Lundell, Taina; Auvinen, Petri

doi:10.3390/microorganisms9071347

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 108 publications

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“…In contrast, the driest areas were dominated by lichens known to be associated with Trebouxia (for example, Ramalina spp.). The ability of some Cladonia species to associate with Trebouxia phycobionts (Osyczka et al, 2020;Shishido et al, 2021) might be helpful under such conditions (Romeike et al, 2002;de Vera, 2012;Candotto-Carniel et al, 2016;Leavitt et al, 2016); however, we did not find any sample containing Trebouxia.…”

Section: Phycobiont Pool Sharingcontrasting

confidence: 63%

Choosing the Right Life Partner: Ecological Drivers of Lichen Symbiosis

et al. 2021

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Lichens are an iconic example of symbiotic systems whose ecology is shaped by the requirements of the symbionts. Previous studies suggest that fungal (mycobionts) as well as photosynthesizing (phycobionts or cyanobionts) partners have a specific range of acceptable symbionts that can be chosen according to specific environmental conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effects of climatic conditions and mycobiont identity on phycobiont distribution within the lichen genera Stereocaulon, Cladonia, and Lepraria. The study area comprised the Canary Islands, Madeira, Sicily, and the Aeolian Islands, spanning a wide range of climatic conditions. These islands are known for their unique and diverse fauna and flora; however, lichen phycobionts have remained unstudied in most of these areas. In total, we genetically analyzed 339 lichen samples. The phycobiont pool differed significantly from that outside the studied area. Asterochloris mediterranea was identified as the most abundant phycobiont. However, its distribution was limited by climatic constraints. Other species of Asterochloris and representatives of the genera Chloroidium, Vulcanochloris, and Myrmecia were also recovered as phycobionts. The selection of symbiotic partners from the local phycobiont pool was driven by mycobiont specificity (i.e., the taxonomic range of acceptable partners) and the environmental conditions, mainly temperature. Interestingly, the dominant fungal species responded differently in their selection of algal symbionts along the environmental gradients. Cladonia rangiformis associated with its phycobiont A. mediterranea in a broader range of temperatures than Stereocaulon azoreum, which favors other Asterochloris species along most of the temperature gradient. Stereocaulon vesuvianum associated with Chloroidium spp., which also differed in their temperature optima. Finally, we described Stereocaulon canariense as a new endemic species ecologically distinct from the other Stereocaulon species on the Canary Islands.

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Section: Phycobiont Pool Sharingcontrasting

confidence: 63%

Choosing the Right Life Partner: Ecological Drivers of Lichen Symbiosis

et al. 2021

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“…These molecules are tetrahydrodibenzofurans and have been reported in the lichens of genera Lecanora , Rhizoplaca , Leprocaulon , Phoma and Hematoma [ 40 , 41 , 42 ]. Interestingly, Shishido et al have recently reported placodiolic acid in Cladonia stellaris , C. uncialis , C. rangiferina , C. mitis and C. arbuscula [ 43 ], which corroborates its presence in C. portentosa . However, mass spectrometry cannot differentiate between placodiolic and pseudoplacodiolic acids [ 39 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Unravelling Novel Phytochemicals and Anticholinesterase Activity in Irish Cladonia portentosa

et al. 2023

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Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors remain the mainstay of symptomatic treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The natural world is rich in acetylcholinesterase inhibitory molecules, and research efforts to identify novel leads is ongoing. Cladonia portentosa, commonly known as reindeer lichen, is an abundant lichen species found in Irish Boglands. The methanol extract of Irish C. portentosa was identified as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitory lead using qualitative TLC-bioautography in a screening program. To identify the active components, the extract was deconvoluted using a successive extraction process with hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol to isolate the active fraction. The hexane extract demonstrated the highest inhibitory activity and was selected for further phytochemical investigations. Olivetolic acid, 4-O-methylolivetolcarboxylic acid, perlatolic acid and usnic acid were isolated and characterized using ESI-MS and two-dimensional NMR techniques. LC-MS analysis also determined the presence of the additional usnic acid derivatives, placodiolic and pseudoplacodiolic acids. Assays of the isolated components confirmed that the observed anticholinesterase activity of C. portentosa can be attributed to usnic acid (25% inhibition at 125 µM) and perlatolic acid (20% inhibition at 250 µM), which were both reported inhibitors. This is the first report of isolation of olivetolic and 4-O-methylolivetolcarboxylic acids and the identification of placodiolic and pseudoplacodiolic acids from C. portentosa.

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“…The results showed that the NR-PKS from LFF Pseudevernia furfuracea produces depside lecanoric acid, which has never been detected from lichen thallus in nature (Calchera et al, 2019). Genome mining analysis based on a homology searching approach revealed that enzymes of grayanic acid, patulin, and betaenones A-C biosynthesis are encoded by Cladonia uncialis genome (Bertrand et al, 2018), and the result corresponds with Shishido et al (2021). The uptake of advanced analytical techniques and next-generation computational tools brought a breakthrough in lichen chemistry and resulted in the identification of various novel compounds.…”

Section: Genome Mining-based Strategymentioning

confidence: 95%

Discovery and excavation of lichen bioactive natural products

et al. 2023

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Lichen natural products are a tremendous source of new bioactive chemical entities for drug discovery. The ability to survive in harsh conditions can be directly correlated with the production of some unique lichen metabolites. Despite the potential applications, these unique metabolites have been underutilized by pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries due to their slow growth, low biomass availability, and technical challenges involved in their artificial cultivation. At the same time, DNA sequence data have revealed that the number of encoded biosynthetic gene clusters in a lichen is much higher than in natural products, and the majority of them are silent or poorly expressed. To meet these challenges, the one strain many compounds (OSMAC) strategy, as a comprehensive and powerful tool, has been developed to stimulate the activation of silent or cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters and exploit interesting lichen compounds for industrial applications. Furthermore, the development of molecular network techniques, modern bioinformatics, and genetic tools is opening up a new opportunity for the mining, modification, and production of lichen metabolites, rather than merely using traditional separation and purification techniques to obtain small amounts of chemical compounds. Heterologous expressed lichen-derived biosynthetic gene clusters in a cultivatable host offer a promising means for a sustainable supply of specialized metabolites. In this review, we summarized the known lichen bioactive metabolites and highlighted the application of OSMAC, molecular network, and genome mining-based strategies in lichen-forming fungi for the discovery of new cryptic lichen compounds.

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Microbial Communities of Cladonia Lichens and Their Biosynthetic Gene Clusters Potentially Encoding Natural Products

Cited by 10 publications

References 108 publications

Choosing the Right Life Partner: Ecological Drivers of Lichen Symbiosis

Choosing the Right Life Partner: Ecological Drivers of Lichen Symbiosis

Unravelling Novel Phytochemicals and Anticholinesterase Activity in Irish Cladonia portentosa

Discovery and excavation of lichen bioactive natural products

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