Insights into the Chemical Diversity of Selected Fungi from the Tza Itzá Cenote of the Yucatan Peninsula

Abstract

Cenotes are habitats with unique physical, chemical, and biological features. Unexplored microorganisms from these sinkholes represent a potential source of bioactive molecules. Thus, a series of cultivable fungi ( Aspergillus spp. NCA257, NCA264, and NCA276, Stachybotrys sp. NCA252, and Cladosporium sp. NCA273) isolated from the cenote Tza Itzá were subjected to chemical, coculture, and metabolomic analyses. Nineteen compounds were obtained and tested for their antimicrobial potential against ESKAPE pathogens, Mycobacterium tuberculosis , and nontuberculous mycobacteria. In particular, phenylspirodrimanes from Stachybotrys sp. NCA252 showed significant activity against MRSA, MSSA, and mycobacterial strains. On the other hand, the absolute configuration of the new compound 17-deoxy-aspergillin PZ ( 1 ) isolated from Aspergillus sp. NCA276 was established via single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Also, the chemical analysis of the cocultures between Aspergillus and Cladosporium strains revealed the production of metabolites that were not present or were barely detected in the monocultures. Finally, molecular networking analysis of the LC-MS-MS/MS data for each fungus was used as a tool for the annotation of additional compounds, increasing the chemical knowledge on the corresponding fungal strains. Overall, this is the first systematic chemical study on fungi isolated from a sinkhole in Mexico.

Effects of the Coculture Initiation Method on the Production of Secondary Metabolites in Bioreactor Cocultures of Penicillium rubens and Streptomyces rimosus

“…Performing microbial cocultivations aimed at secondary metabolite production is not a trivial task. This approach is associated with many bioprocess-related challenges and difficulties [ 45 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 ]. Most importantly, the differences in terms of growth rate often lead to a scenario in which a faster-growing species outcompetes its microbial partner, and, as a result, the metabolites of only one microorganism are produced in the system [ 51 ].…”

Computation-aided studies related to the induction of specialized metabolite biosynthesis in microbial co-cultures: An introductory overview

“…NCA273 or Aspergillus sp. NCA276 [30] , and Eurotium amstelodami vs. three species of Bacillus [69] . It should be mentioned, however, that the application of network-based analysis of mass spectra was demonstrated by the developers of GNPS in the context of SM/co-culture research even before the formal introduction of the GNPS infrastructure.…”

“…, the monocultures) towards exploring the complexity of co-cultures can be perceived as a “paradigm shift” in microbiological sciences [24] . It is important to note that microbial co-cultures are associated with several bioprocess-related issues [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] . The difference in growth rates may lead to the scenario in which the faster-growing species outcompetes its co-culture partner and, as a result, the slower-growing microbe is eventually eliminated.…”