Marine Fungi from the Sponge Grantia compressa: Biodiversity, Chemodiversity, and Biotechnological Potential

Abstract

The emergence of antibiotic resistance and viruses with high epidemic potential made unexplored marine environments an appealing target source for new metabolites. Marine fungi represent one of the most suitable sources for the discovery of new compounds. Thus, the aim of this work was (i) to isolate and identify fungi associated with the Atlantic sponge Grantia compressa; (ii) to study the fungal metabolites by applying the OSMAC approach (one strain; many compounds); (iii) to test fungal compounds for their antimicrobial activities. Twenty-one fungal strains (17 taxa) were isolated from G. compressa. The OSMAC approach revealed an astonishing metabolic diversity in the marine fungus Eurotium chevalieri MUT 2316, from which 10 compounds were extracted, isolated, and characterized. All metabolites were tested against viruses and bacteria (reference and multidrug-resistant strains). Dihydroauroglaucin completely inhibited the replication of influenza A virus; as for herpes simplex virus 1, total inhibition of replication was observed for both physcion and neoechinulin D. Six out of 10 compounds were active against Gram-positive bacteria with isodihydroauroglaucin being the most promising compound (minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) 4–64 µg/mL) with bactericidal activity. Overall, G. compressa proved to be an outstanding source of fungal diversity. Marine fungi were capable of producing different metabolites; in particular, the compounds isolated from E. chevalieri showed promising bioactivity against well-known and emerging pathogens.

Antibiotics Development and the Potentials of Marine-Derived Compounds to Stem the Tide of Multidrug-Resistant Pathogenic Bacteria, Fungi, and Protozoa

“…Atlantic sponge (Grantia compressa)-associated fungus, Eurotium chevalieri MUT 2316 (West Coast of Ireland), produced 10 metabolites with promising antibacterial (Table 3) ( Figure 4A) as well as antiviral activities [106]. This study demonstrated and reaffirmed that "One strain, many compounds" (OSMAC) is a powerful method to stimulate and enhance the production of an incredible variety of new secondary metabolites.…”

“…Structures of (A) physcion (3), dihydroauroglaucin (4), and isodihydroauroglaucin (6)[106]; and (B) dolabellane-type diterpenoids (1−3) and three new atranones (4)[110].…”

Fungal Diversity in the Neptune Forest: Comparison of the Mycobiota of Posidonia oceanica, Flabellia petiolata, and Padina pavonica

“…Broadening the knowledge of marine fungi associated with a vast range of biotic and abiotic substrates is becoming more and more important. The reason behind this lies in the ecological relevance that these organisms may play in the oceans and in their possible exploitation as a source of potentially novel enzymes and bioactive compounds (Bovio et al, 2019;Grossart et al, 2019;Overy et al, 2019;Youssef et al, 2019).…”

A Novel High-Throughput Screening Platform Identifies Itaconate Derivatives from Marine Penicillium antarcticum as Inhibitors of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation

“…Marine-derived filamentous fungi are a well-known source of pharmaceutically relevant molecules, previously showing antiviral, antibacterial, anticancer and other bioactivities [40,41]. Particularly promising is the Penicillium genus, which showed an extraordinary and unexploited potential to synthetize novel secondary metabolites [42].…”