The pursuit of chemical diversity in fungi

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Allison Jade Wright (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Nicholas Oberlies

Abstract: Fungi are ever changing their secondary metabolites profile in order to adapt to their environment. Previously characterized fungal cultures were re-analyzed with the intention of re-isolating scaled up quantities of metabolites of interest. However, in doing so there were several instances where fungal secondary metabolites were isolated that were not previously observed. The biological activities of the isolated secondary metabolites were evaluated using a variety of bioassays. Three compounds that were not previously isolated were characterized and added to our compound library. Re-isolation and re-analysis of fungal secondary metabolites can lead to the discovery of unsought yet interesting changes in secondary metabolite profile and biological activity. To take advantage of fungi’s ability to adapt to their environment, our lab has grown fungi in co-culturing experiments in hopes of activating silent biosynthetic gene clusters thus diversifying secondary metabolite production. The most common fungus utilized in these experiments has been Xylaria flabelliformis (formerly known as Xylaria cubensis) due to its production of the fungistatic compound and FDA approved drug, griseofulvin. In this study, two other Xylaria spp. are analyzed in comparison to Xylaria flabelliformis to determine variation in griseofulvin production among the strains and over time. Characterizing griseofulvin production by various Xylaria spp. leads to intentionality in future co-culturing experimental design, in that the optimal Xylaria sp. can be selected.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2020
Keywords
Co-culturing, Dechlorogriseofulvin, Griseofulvin, Natural products, Re-isolation, Xylaria
Subjects
Xylaria
Metabolites
Biological assay
Antifungal agents

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