Extracts from Four Species of Xylotrophic Basidiomycetes Growing in the Middle Urals (Russia) Revealed Cytotoxic Effects on Model Object Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

In our study, four species of wood-decaying fungi with perennial fruiting bodies were used as the source of biologically active compounds (BACs) - <i>Inonotus obliquus</i> (chaga), <i>Fomitopsis pinicola, Fomes fomentarius,</i> and <i>Ganoderma applanatum</i>. Fungi have a wide range of secondary metabolites but are used much less frequently than plants in both folk and official medicine. Fungotherapy could be considered a promising trend in the development of modern natural therapy. Therefore, qualitative and quantitative analyses of the extracts were carried out. The cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of aqueous-alcoholic extracts, obtained from fungal fruiting bodies were assessed after application on <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>. The frequency of the larvae lethally, SMART mosaicism, the <i>GstD1</i> gene expression and the DNA damage were studied. The addition of 0.5% of fungal extracts to the food substrate did not cause a significant change in the lethality level in <i>D. melanogaster</i>. All extracts caused an increase in the degree of DNA damage. The greatest effect was caused by extract from <i>I. obliquus</i> and <i>G. applanatum</i>. Chaga extract caused a significant increase in the expression level of the <i>GstD1</i> gene. <i>F. fomentarius</i> extract exhibited the lowest level of DNA damage and reduced <i>GstD1</i> gene expression. The <i>F. fomentarius</i> extract showed a pronounced antiproliferative effect. So, <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> could be used as the preliminary test object for early studies of biological activities from natural raw materials as it is much cheaper compared with cell lines and vertebrate models.