Bioprospecting

Fungi that inhabit fire-prone forests have to be adapted to harsh conditions and fungi affiliated to Ascomycota recovered from foliar litter samples were used for bioprospecting of molecules such as enzymes. Agni's fungi isolated from leaf litter, whose spores are capable of tolerating 110 o C were screened for thermostable lipases. One of the isolates, Leptosphaerulina trifolii A SMR-2011 exhibited high positive lipase activity than other isolates while screening through agar plate assay using Tween 20 in the medium...

BACKGROUND: Plastic pollution is a severe threat to marine ecosystems. While some microbial enzymes can degrade certain plastics, the ability of the global ocean microbiome to break down diverse environmental plastics remains limited. We employed metatranscriptomic data from an international ocean survey to explore global and regional patterns in microbial plastic degradation potential. RESULTS: On a global oceanic scale, we found no significant correlation between levels of plastic pollution and the expression of genes encoding enzymes putatively identified as capable of plastic degradation...

Extreme environments, such as Antarctica, select microbial communities that display a range of evolutionary strategies to survive and thrive under harsh environmental conditions. These include a diversity of specialized metabolites, which have the potential to be a source for new natural product discovery. Efforts using (meta)genome mining approaches to identify and understand biosynthetic gene clusters in Antarctica are still scarce, and the extent of their diversity and distribution patterns in the environment have yet to be discovered...

Piper sarmentosum Roxb. (Piperaceae) is a traditional medicinal and food plant widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, offering both health and culinary benefits. In this study the secondary metabolites in different organs of P. sarmentosum were identified and their relative abundances were characterized. The metabolic profiles of leaves, roots, stems and fruits were comprehensively investigated by liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HR-MS) and the data subsequently analyzed using multivariate statistical methods...

Among microorganisms, fungi are the ones that have the most imagination in producing secondary metabolites with the most varied structural differences, which are produced through different biosynthetic pathways. Therefore, they synthesize secondary metabolites classifiable into numerous families of natural compounds such as amino acids, alkaloids, anthraquinones, aromatic compounds, cyclohexene epoxides, furanones, macrolides, naphthoquinones, polyketides, pyrones, terpenes, etc. They also produced metabolites with very complex structures that can not be classified in the known families of natural compounds...

Natural products from Actinomycetota have served as inspiration for many clinically relevant therapeutics. Despite early triumphs in natural product discovery, the rate of unearthing new compounds has decreased, necessitating inventive approaches. One promising strategy is to explore environments where survival is challenging. These harsh environments are hypothesized to lead to bacteria developing chemical adaptations (e.g. natural products) to enable their survival. This investigation focuses on ore-forming environments, particularly fluoride mines, which typically have extreme pH, salinity and nutrient scarcity...

A catalytic diastereoselective Prins reaction for hydroxymethylation and hydroxylation of 1,3-diarylpropene was successfully utilized to prepare various 1,3-dioxanes 7 in 14-88% yields. Take advantage of the synthetic intermediate 7h, the key B/C rings in brazilin core could be constructed by the sequential of Friedel-Crafts/Ullmann-Ma rather than Ullmann-Ma/Friedel-Crafts reactions.

Acetophenones are naturally occurring phenolic compounds which have found in over 24 plant families and also fungi strains. They are exist in both free or glycosides form in nature. The biological activities of these compounds have been assayed and reported including cytotoxicity, antimicrobial, antimalarial, antioxidant and antityrosinase activities. Herein, we review the chemistry and biological activity of natural acetophenone derivatives that have been isolated and identified until January 2024. Taken together, it was reported 252 acetophenone derivatives in which the genera Melicope (69) and Acronychia (44) were the principal species as producers of acetophenones...

Xylanases are key biocatalysts in the degradation of the β-1,4-glycosidic linkages in the xylan backbone of hemicellulose. These enzymes are potentially applied in a wide range of bioprocessing industries under harsh conditions. Metagenomics has emerged as powerful tools for the bioprospection and discovery of interesting bioactive molecules from extreme ecosystems with unique features, such as high temperatures. In this study, an innovative combination of function-driven screening of a compost metagenomic library and automatic extraction of halo areas with in-house MATLAB functions resulted in the identification of a promising clone with xylanase activity (LP4)...

Until recently, the main pharmaceuticals used to control cholesterol and prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) were statin-related drugs, known for their historical side effects. Therefore, there is growing interest in exploring alternatives, such as nutritional and dietary components, that could play a central role in CVD prevention. This review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how natural phytosterols found in various diets combat CVDs. We begin with a description of the overall approach, then we explore in detail the different direct and indirect mechanisms that contribute to reducing cardiovascular incidents...

Endophytic microbial communities colonize plants growing under various abiotic stress conditions. Candelilla (Euphorbia antisyphilitica Zucc.) is a shrub that develops functionally in arid and semi-arid zones of Mexico; these conditions generate an association between the plant and the microorganisms, contributing to the production of enzymes as a defense mechanism for resistance to abiotic stress. The objective of this research was to isolate and identify endophyte fungi of candelilla and bioprospection of these endophytic fungi for enzyme production using candelilla by-products...

Microbial life is not restricted to any particular setting. Over the past several decades, it has been evident that microbial populations can exist in a wide range of environments, including those with extremes in temperature, pressure, salinity, and pH. Bacteria and Archaea are the two most reported types of microbes that can sustain in extreme environments, such as hot springs, ice caves, acid drainage, and salt marshes. Some can even grow in toxic waste, organic solvents, and heavy metals. These microbes are called extremophiles...

Bioactive peptides are short amino acid sequences that play important roles in various physiological processes, including antioxidant and protective effects. These compounds can be obtained through protein hydrolysis and have a wide range of potential applications in a variety of areas. However, despite the potential of these compounds, more in-depth knowledge is still necessary to better understand details regarding their chemical reactivity and electronic properties. In this study, we used molecular modeling techniques to investigate the electronic structure of isolated amino acids (AA) and short peptide sequences...

Seven undescribed compounds, including three flavones (1-3), one phenylpropanoid (19), three monoaromatic hydrocarbons (27-29), were isolated from the twigs of Mosla chinensis Maxim together with twenty-eight known compounds. The structures were characterized by HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR, and ECD spectroscopic techniques. Compound 20 displayed the most significant activity against A/WSN/33/2009 (H1N1) virus (IC50  = 20.47 μM) compared to the positive control oseltamivir (IC50  = 6...

The LABEXTRACT plant extract bank, featuring diverse members of the Myrtaceae family from Brazilian hot spot regions, provides a promising avenue for bioprospection. Given the pivotal roles of the Spike protein and 3CLpro and PLpro proteases in SARS-CoV-2 infection, this study delves into the correlations between the Myrtaceae species from the Atlantic Forest and these targets, as well as an antiviral activity through both in vitro and in silico analyses. The results uncovered notable inhibitory effects, with Eugenia prasina and E...

Molecular studies about cyanide biodegradation have been mainly focused on the hydrolytic pathways catalyzed by the cyanide dihydratase CynD or the nitrilase NitC. In some Pseudomonas strains, the assimilation of cyanide has been linked to NitC, such as the cyanotrophic model strain Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT 5344, which has been recently reclassified as Pseudomonas oleovorans CECT 5344. In this work, a phylogenomic approach established a more precise taxonomic position of the strain CECT 5344 within the species P...

BACKGROUND: Fabaceae plays a crucial role in African traditional medicine as a source of large number of important folk medication, agriculture and food plants. In a search of potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory candidates derived from locally cultivated plants, the flowers of Tipuana tipu (Benth.) Lillo growing in Egypt were subjected to extensive biological and phytochemical studies. The impact of the extraction technique on the estimated biological activities was investigated...

The inadequate vascularization seen in fast-growing solid tumors gives rise to hypoxic areas, fostering specific changes in gene expression that bolster tumor cell survival and metastasis, ultimately leading to unfavorable clinical prognoses across different cancer types. Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF-1 and HIF-2) emerge as druggable pivotal players orchestrating tumor metastasis and angiogenesis, thus positioning them as prime targets for cancer treatment. A range of HIF inhibitors, notably natural compounds originating from marine organisms, exhibit encouraging anticancer properties, underscoring their significance as promising therapeutic options...

Among the foodborne illnesses, listeriosis has the third highest case mortality rate (20-30% or higher). Emerging drug-resistant strains of Listeria monocytogenes , a causative bacterium of listeriosis, exacerbate the seriousness of this public health concern. Novel anti-Listerial compounds are therefore needed to combat this challenge. In recent years, marine actinobacteria have come to be regarded as a promising source of novel antimicrobials. Hence, our aim was to provide a narrative of the available literature and discuss trends regarding bioprospecting marine actinobacteria for new anti-Listerial compounds...

Biological approaches via biomolecular extracts of bacteria, fungi, or plants have recently been introduced as an alternative approach to synthesizing less or nontoxic nanomaterials, compared to conventional physical and chemical approaches. Among these biological methods, plant-mediated approaches (phytosynthesis) are reported to be highly beneficial for large-scale, nontoxic nanomaterial synthesis. However, plant-mediated synthesis of nanomaterials using native plant extract can lead to bioprospecting issues and deforestation challenges...