Wood-decaying fungi found in Southern Ghana: A potential source of new anti-infective compounds

Abstract

Background: Discovery of bioactive natural products are instrumental for development of novel antibiotics. The discovery and development of natural products such as penicillin represented a major milestone in the treatment of bacterial infections. Currently, many antibiotics have lost their relevance in clinics due to the emergence of drug-resistant microbial pathogens. Hence, there is the need for continuous search of new compounds endowed with potent antimicrobial activity. In this study, wood-decaying fungi (WDF) from Southern Ghana were explored for their potential as sources of novel antimicrobial compounds with intent of expanding the effort into a drug discovery programme in the near future. Methods: A total of 54 WDF isolates were fermented in potato dextrose broth and the secondary metabolites obtained were analyzed for the presence of antimicrobial agents using the disc diffusion assay. Chromatography techniques were used for preliminary analysis of the chemical composition of the extracts and for fractionation of the extracts that showed antimicrobial activity. Results: The extracts from 40 out of the 54 WDF isolates exhibited significant antimicrobial activity against either Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli or Candida albicans. Fractionation of these bioactive extracts, followed by bioassay of the organic fractions obtained, indicate that extracts exhibiting antimicrobial activity against more than one of the three test organisms could be attributed to the presence of different bioactive compounds. Analysis of the composition of the extracts revealed that terpenes were predominant. Conclusions: This study suggests that a significant proportion of WDF in Southern Ghana produce antimicrobial compounds which could be potential sources of novel anti-infective agents and support the plans of developing a drug discovery programme in Ghana based on the fermentation of WDF.

Characterization of Microbial Diversity in Decayed Wood from a Spanish Forest: An Environmental Source of Industrially Relevant Microorganisms

“…Previous works indicated the putative antimicrobial activity of microorganisms isolated from decayed wood [11][12][13][14], which fuelled the present analyses of the microbial inhabitants from this non-traditional resource. This study is focused on the detection of genes encoding PKSs and NRPSs, which are involved in the production of different secondary metabolites, such as antibiotics, and the subsequent validation by means of competitive bioassays.…”

“…These complex biological interactions create a highly interesting environmental niche in which to look for microorganism with potential industrial applications in red (e.g., antibiotics, drugs) and white (e.g., enzymes) biotechnologies. Although this niche has not been deeply investigated as a source of antimicrobial compounds, some wood-decaying fungi, or fungi associated with them, present antimicrobial activities [11][12][13]. Besides, different bioactive potential has been described in microorganisms isolated from decaying wood, such as the antimicrobial biosynthetic capacity in Paraburkholderia sp., or anti-insect activity from alkaloids isolated from Penicillium species [14,15].…”

Use of medicinal plants as a remedy against lymphatic filariasis: Current status and future prospect

“…This system offers a simple and low‐cost bioassay platform to test plant medicine preparations and all related samples and isolated compounds. Prescreening with fungal pathogens allows for large libraries of plant materials and compounds to be reduced to a small package of focused and enriched samples to be tested on filarial worms and their eggs 52 …”

“…Prescreening with fungal pathogens allows for large libraries of plant materials and compounds to be reduced to a small package of focused and enriched samples to be tested on filarial worms and their eggs. 52 …”