Production of Melanin Pigment by Fungi and Its Biotechnological Applications

Abstract

Production of the microbial pigments is one of the emerging fields of research due to a growing interest of the industry for safer products, easily degradable and eco-friendly. Fungi constitute a valuable source of pigments because they are capable of producing high yields of the substance in the cheap culture medium, making the bioprocess economically viable on the industrial scale. Some fungal species produce a dark-brown pigment, known as melanin, by oxidative polymerization of phenolic compounds, such as glutaminyl-3,4-dihydroxybenzene (GDHB) or catechol or 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) or 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA). This pigment has been reported to act as "fungal armor" due to its ability to protect fungi from adverse conditions, neutralizing oxidants generated in response to stress. Apart from the scavenging activity, melanin exhibits other biological activities, including thermoregulatory, radio-and photoprotective, antimicrobial, antiviral, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory. Studies have shown that the media composition and cultivation conditions affect the pigment production in fungi and the manipulation of these parameters can result in an increase in pigment yield for large-scale pigment production. This chapter presents a comprehensive discussion of the research on fungal melanin, including the recently discovered biological activities and the potential use of this pigment for various biotechnological applications in the fields of biomedicine, dermocosmetics, materials science, and nanotechnology.

Fungal Pigments and Their Prospects in Different Industries

“…Recently, fungi such as Sanghuangporus baumii and Clonostachys intermedia have been found to produce a yellow pigment under submerged fermentation [71]. Production of melanin was reported from different groups of fungi such as Phyllosticta capitalensis, Xylaria polymorpha, Trametes versicolor, Inonotus hispidus, Oxyporus populinus, Fomes fomentarius, Exophiala dermatitidis, Tuber melanosporum, Sporothrix schenckii, and Cryptococcus neoformans [29,34,35,44,80,81,83]. Similarly, a study has shown the possible industrial application of the red pigment produced by Paecilomyces sinclairii [126].…”

Optimizing production of a biopesticide protectant by black yeast

“…Some microorganisms can exhibit a common strategy in response to UV radiation including the synthesis and accumulation of UV light absorbing secondary metabolites that act as sunscreens (Garcia-Pichel and Castenholz 1991;Garcia-Pichel and Castenholz 1993); melanin was known as the best secondary metabolites that act as sunscreens Kollias et al 1991). Microbial melanin pigment, especially from marine species, is an attractive option for researchers and industries because it is safer, easily degradable, and eco-friendly and does not cause harmful effects (Pombeiro-Sponchiado et al 2017).…”

Exposure to UV-B Radiation Leads to Increased Deposition of Cell Wall-Associated Xerocomic Acid in Cultures of Serpula himantioides

“…The antioxidant activities of the extracts and xerocomic acid were measured on the basis of the scavenging activity of the DPPH free radical. One hundred eighty microliters of 100 M DPPH solution in methanol was mixed with 20 l of methanolic extracts of various concentrations (0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, and 8.0 mg/ml) and 20 l xerocomic acid (10,20,40,60,800, and 100 g/ml), respectively. Trolox was used as a standard (68).…”

“…In terms of chemical effects, a range of photoprotective pigments such as melanins and carotenoids can be biosynthesized by fungi to quench ROS induced by UV radiation (20). Melanin derivatives are among the most common fungal pigments and are normally located in the cell wall and cytoplasm, acting as sunscreens (21).…”