Volatile antimicrobials from Muscodor crispans, a novel endophytic fungus.

Muscodor crispans is a recently described novel endophytic fungus of Ananas ananassoides (wild pineapple) growing in the Bolivian Amazon Basin. The fungus produces a mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); some of the major components of this mixture, as determined by GC/MS, are propanoic acid, 2-methyl-, methyl ester; propanoic acid, 2-methyl-; 1-butanol, 3-methyl-;1-butanol, 3-methyl-, acetate; propanoic acid, 2-methyl-, 2-methylbutyl ester; and ethanol. The fungus does not, however, produce naphthalene or azulene derivatives as has been observed with many other members of the genus Muscodor. The mixture of VOCs produced by M. crispans cultures possesses antibiotic properties, as does an artificial mixture of a majority of the components. The VOCs of the fungus are effective against a wide range of plant pathogens, including the fungi Pythium ultimum, Phytophthora cinnamomi, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Mycosphaerella fijiensis (the black sigatoka pathogen of bananas), and the serious bacterial pathogen of citrus, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri. In addition, the VOCs of M. crispans killed several human pathogens, including Yersinia pestis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Staphylococcus aureus. Artificial mixtures of the fungal VOCs were both inhibitory and lethal to a number of human and plant pathogens, including three drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The gaseous products of Muscodor crispans potentially could prove to be beneficial in the fields of medicine, agriculture, and industry.

[1]  J. Clardy,et al.  A fungal endophyte-tree relationship: Phoma sp. in Taxus wallachiana , 1994 .

[2]  A. Stierle,et al.  Taxol and taxane production by Taxomyces andreanae, an endophytic fungus of Pacific yew. , 1993, Science.

[3]  D. Grant,et al.  Ambuic acid, a highly functionalized cyclohexenone with antifungal activity from Pestalotiopsis spp. and Monochaetia sp. , 2001, Phytochemistry.

[4]  G. Strobel,et al.  Bioprospecting for Microbial Endophytes and Their Natural Products , 2003, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.

[5]  ANNE CLAYTON,et al.  Industrial Microbiology , 1968, Nature.

[6]  G. Höfle,et al.  4‐Dialkylaminopyridines as Highly Active Acylation Catalysts. [New synthetic method (25)] , 1978 .

[7]  D. Hawksworth,et al.  Where are all the undescribed fungi? , 1997, Phytopathology.

[8]  J. Schnürer,et al.  Fungal volatiles as indicators of food and feeds spoilage. , 1999, Fungal genetics and biology : FG & B.

[9]  G. Strobel,et al.  Effect of substrate on the bioactivity of volatile antimicrobials produced by Muscodor albus , 2003 .

[10]  C. Dennis,et al.  ANTAGONISTIC PROPERTIES OF SPECIES- GROUPS OF TRICHODERMA: III HYPHAL INTERACTION , 1971 .

[11]  B. Mcafee,et al.  A review of the volatile metabolites of fungi found on wood substrates. , 1999, Natural toxins.

[12]  C. Dennis,et al.  Antagonistic properties of species-groups of Trichoderma: I. Production of non-volatile antibiotics , 1971 .

[13]  S. Gottesman,et al.  On the bacterial cell cycle: Escherichia coli mutants with altered ploidy. , 1990, Genes & development.

[14]  C. Heathcock,et al.  Stereoselective total synthesis of the guaiazulenic sesquiterpenoids .alpha.-bulnesene and bulnesol , 1971 .

[15]  F. Sugawara,et al.  Oocydin A, a chlorinated macrocyclic lactone with potent anti-oomycete activity from Serratia marcescens. , 1999, Microbiology.

[16]  S. Rapior,et al.  The fenugreek odor of Lactarius helvus , 2000 .

[17]  G. Strobel.  Harnessing endophytes for industrial microbiology. , 2006, Current opinion in microbiology.

[18]  J. Bjurman,et al.  Volatile production by Aspergillus versicolor as a possible cause of odor in houses affected by fungi , 1992, Mycopathologia.

[19]  G. Strobel,et al.  Volatile antimicrobials from Muscodor albus, a novel endophytic fungus. , 2001, Microbiology.

[20]  J. Clardy,et al.  Cryptocin, a potent tetramic acid antimycotic from the endophytic fungus Cryptosporiopsis cf. quercina. , 2000, Organic letters.

[21]  G. Strobel,et al.  New endophytic isolates of Muscodor albus, a volatile-antibiotic-producing fungus. , 2004, Microbiology.

[22]  C. Bacon,et al.  Microbial Endophytes , 2004, Biodiversity & Conservation.

[23]  G. Strobel,et al.  Isolation and characterization of Muscodor albus I-41.3s, a volatile antibiotic producing fungus , 2005 .

[24]  R. Mittermeier,et al.  Hotspots: Earth's Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions , 2000 .

[25]  G. Strobel,et al.  Jesterone and hydroxy-jesterone antioomycete cyclohexenone epoxides from the endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis jesteri. , 2001, Phytochemistry.