Bioactive secondary metabolite production from endophytic fungi has gained a recurring research focus in recent decades as these microorganisms represent an unexplored biological niche for their diverse biotechnological potential. Despite this focus, studies involving tropical endophytes remain scarce, particularly those isolated from medicinal plants of these ecosystems. In addition, the state of the art of the pharmaceutical industry has experienced stagnation in the past 30years, which has pushed pathogenic infections to get one step ahead, resulting in the development of resistance to existing treatments. Here, five fungal endophytes were isolated from the medicinal plant Otoba gracilipes (Myristicaceae), which corresponded to the genera Xylaria and Diaporthe, and screened to demonstrate the promissory potential of these microorganisms for producing bioactive secondary metabolites with broad-spectrum antibacterial activities. Thus, the evaluation of crude organic extracts obtained from the mycelia and exhaust medium allowed the elucidation of Xylaria sp. and Diaporthe endophytica potential toward providing crude extracellular extracts with promising bioactivities against reference strains of Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), according to the determined half-maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) with values down to 3.91 and 10.50mg/ml against each pathogen, respectively. Follow-up studies provided insights into the polarity nature of bioactive compounds in the crude extracts through bioactivity guided fractionation using a polymeric resin absorbent alternative extraction procedure. In addition, evaluation of the co-culturing methods demonstrated how this strategy can enhance endophytes biosynthetic capacity and improve their antibacterial potential with a 10-fold decrease in the IC50 values against both pathogens compared to the obtained values in the preliminary evaluations of Xylaria sp. and D. endophytica crude extracts. These results support the potential of Colombian native biodiversity to provide new approaches concerning the global emergence of antibiotics resistance and future production of undiscovered compounds different from the currently used antibiotics classes and simultaneously call for the value of preserving native habitats due to their promising ecosystemic applications in the biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries.

During a study of the diversity of soilborne fungi from Spain, a strain belonging to the family Chaetomiaceae (Sordariales) was isolated. The multigene phylogenetic inference using five DNA loci showed that this strain represents an undescribed species of the genus Amesia, herein introduced as A. hispanica sp. nov. Investigation of its secondary metabolome led to the isolation of two new derivatives (2 and 3) of the known antifungal antibiotic dactylfungin A (1), together with the known compound cochliodinol (4). The planar structures of 1–4 were determined by ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and ion mobility tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-DAD-IM-MS/MS) and extensive 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy after isolation by HPLC. All isolated secondary metabolites were tested for their antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. Dactylfungin A (1) showed selective and strong antifungal activity against some of the tested human pathogens (Aspergillus fumigatus and Cryptococcus neoformans). The additional hydroxyl group in 2 resulted in the loss of activity against C. neoformans but still retained the inhibition of As. fumigatus in a lower concentration than that of the respective control, without showing any cytotoxic effects. In contrast, 25″-dehydroxy-dactylfungin A (3) exhibited improved activity against yeasts (Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Rhodotorula glutinis) than 1 and 2, but resulted in the appearance of slight cytotoxicity. The present study exemplifies how even in a well-studied taxonomic group such as the Chaetomiaceae, the investigation of novel taxa still brings chemistry novelty, as demonstrated in this first report of this antibiotic class for chaetomiaceous and sordarialean taxa.

Fungi provide ecological and environmental services to humans, as well as health and nutritional benefits, and are vital to numerous industries. Fermented food and beverage products from fungi are circulating in the market, generating billions of USD. However, the highest potential monetary value of fungi is their role in blue carbon trading because of their ability to sequester large amounts of carbon in the soil. There are no conclusive estimates available on the global monetary value of fungi, primarily because there are limited data for extrapolation. This study outlines the contribution of fungi to the global economy and provides a first attempt at quantifying the global monetary value of fungi. Our estimate of USD 54.57 trillion provides a starting point that can be analysed and improved, highlighting the significance of fungi and providing an appreciation of their value. This paper identifies the different economically valuable products and services provided by fungi. By giving a monetary value to all important fungal products, services, and industrial applications underscores their significance in biodiversity and conservation. Furthermore, if the value of fungi is well established, they will be considered in future policies for effective ecosystem management.