Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.7
4.2
Journals
JoF
Sections
Bioactive Fungal Metabolites
share announcement

Bioactive Fungal Metabolites

A topical collection in Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This collection belongs to the section "Fungal Cell Biology, Metabolism and Physiology".

Viewed by 1303

Editor

Dr. Alessio Cimmino

E-Mail Website
Collection Editor
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario Monte Sant'Angelo, Via Cintia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy
Interests: natural product chemistry; bioactive fungal metabolites; isolation and structure elucidation; chromatographic techniques; spectroscopic methods; biological activity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Topical Collection Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fungi are a rich source of biologically active natural compounds. They are able to produce several specialized metabolites belonging to diverse structural classes, including anthracenones, butanolides, butenolides, cytochalasans, macrolides, naphthalenones, pyrones, terpenes, aromatic compounds and amino acids. Fungi interact with plants in various ways, and each interaction originates different alterations in both partners. Pathogenic fungi can produce phytotoxins that are poisonous or toxic for plants and play an important role in plant–pathogen interactions as well as in the development of disease symptoms. Endophitic fungi colonize inner healthy plant tissues without causing disease symptoms to their hosts and are known to confer considerable benefits by producing substances that stimulate plant growth and enhance resistance to biotic and abiotic stress.

Fungi can also produce beneficial or antagonistic metabolites involved in microbe–microbe interactions. Thus, the determination of the chemical structure of bioactive metabolites and their identification is fundamental to understand their function. Furthermore, fungal bioactive metabolites display several interesting biological activities and have potential applications in different fields, such as agriculture or medicine. Considering the biodiversity of the fungal kingdom and that only a small part has been investigated for the production of bioactive compounds, it is clear that a large number of chemical structures and biological activities remain unexplored.

This Topical Collection will focus on the isolation and chemical characterization of known and new bioactive metabolites and/or the evaluation of their biological activities for potential applications in different fields.

Dr. Alessio Cimmino
Collection Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the collection website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural products
  • pathogenic fungi
  • endophytic fungi
  • bioactive metabolites
  • chemical ecology
  • biopesticides
  • antibiotics
  • drugs

Related Special Issues

Published Papers (1 paper)

2024

18 pages, 4370 KiB  
Article
Antifungal Activity of Disalt of Epipyrone A from Epicoccum nigrum Likely via Disrupted Fatty Acid Elongation and Sphingolipid Biosynthesis
by Alex J. Lee, Joseph Hammond, Jeffrey Sheridan, Simon Swift, Andrew B. Munkacsi and Silas G. Villas-Boas
J. Fungi 2024, 10(9), 597; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof10090597 - 23 Aug 2024
Viewed by 651
Abstract
Multidrug-resistant fungal pathogens and antifungal drug toxicity have challenged our current ability to fight fungal infections. Therefore, there is a strong global demand for novel antifungal molecules with the distinct mode of action and specificity to service the medical and agricultural sectors. Polyenes [...] Read more.
Multidrug-resistant fungal pathogens and antifungal drug toxicity have challenged our current ability to fight fungal infections. Therefore, there is a strong global demand for novel antifungal molecules with the distinct mode of action and specificity to service the medical and agricultural sectors. Polyenes are a class of antifungal drugs with the broadest spectrum of activity among the current antifungal drugs. Epipyrone A, a water-soluble antifungal molecule with a unique, linear polyene structure, was isolated from the fungus Epiccocum nigrum. Since small changes in a compound structure can significantly alter its cell target and mode of action, we present here a study on the antifungal mode of action of the disalt of epipyrone A (DEA) using chemical-genetic profiling, fluorescence microscopy, and metabolomics. Our results suggest the disruption of sphingolipid/fatty acid biosynthesis to be the primary mode of action of DEA, followed by the intracellular accumulation of toxic phenolic compounds, in particular p-toluic acid (4-methylbenzoic acid). Although membrane ergosterol is known to be the main cell target for polyene antifungal drugs, we found little evidence to support that is the case for DEA. Sphingolipids, on the other hand, are known for their important roles in fungal cell physiology, and their biosynthesis has been recognized as a potential fungal-specific cell target for the development of new antifungal drugs. Full article
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop