Victor Gonzalez Menendez
@medinadiscovery.com
Senior Scientist Mycrobiology
Fundacion MEDINA
Víctor González-Menéndez obtained his PhD in Pharmacy from University of Granada in 2019. He has a BSc Degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of León, Spain, a MSc degree in Drug Research, Development, Control and Innovation from the University of Granada, and a degree in advanced mycology from the International University of Andalucía. He joined Fundación MEDINA in 2010, and currently he is Senior Scientist at the Microbiology Department and Manager of the Fungal Collection. He is responsible of the identification and isolation of new fungi, and especially in the scale-up fermentation, metabolomic and phylogenetic analysis of fungal communities. He is focused on developing fungal phytopathogens biocontrol assays to discover new potential biopesticides from microbial natural products. He is co-author of more than 30 papers, 5 patents and many oral and poster communications.
EDUCATION
PhD in Pharmacy from University of Granada in 2019
Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
Thomas A. Mackenzie, Fernando Reyes, Marta Martínez, Víctor González-Menéndez, Isabel Sánchez, Olga Genilloud, José R. Tormo, and María C. Ramos
MDPI AG
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with breast cancer being the second cause of cancer-related mortality among women. Natural Products (NPs) are one of the main sources for drug discovery. During a screening campaign focused on the identification of extracts from Fundación MEDINA’s library inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cell lines, a significant bioactivity was observed in extracts from cultures of the fungus Angustimassarina populi CF-097565. Bioassay-guided fractionation of this extract led to the identification and isolation of herbarin (1), 1-hydroxydehydroherbarin (4) plus other three naphthoquinone derivatives of which 3 and 5 are new natural products and 2 is herein described from a natural source for the first time. Four of these compounds (1, 3, 4 and 5) confirmed a specific cytotoxic effect against the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. To evaluate the therapeutic potential of the compounds isolated, their efficacy was validated in 3D cultures, a cancer model of higher functionality. Additionally, an in-depth study was carried out to test the effect of the compounds in terms of cell mortality, sphere disaggregation, shrinkage, and morphology. The cell profile of the compounds was also compared to that of known cytotoxic compounds with the aim to distinguish the drug mode of action (MoA). The profiles of 1, 3 and 4 showed more biosimilarity between them, different to 5, and even more different to other known cytotoxic agents, suggesting an alternative MoA responsible for their cytotoxicity in 3D cultures.
Lidia Matias-Valiente, Cristina Sanchez-Fernandez, Lara Rodriguez-Outeiriño, Maria C. Ramos, Caridad Díaz, Gloria Crespo, Victor González-Menéndez, Olga Genilloud, Fernando Reyes, Marisol Montolio,et al.
Elsevier BV
Rachel Serrano, Víctor González-Menéndez, José R. Tormo, and Olga Genilloud
MDPI AG
Fungal phytopathogens are the major agents responsible for causing severe damage to and losses in agricultural crops worldwide. Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum acutatum, Fusarium proliferatum, and Magnaporthe grisea are included in the top ten fungal phytopathogens that impose important plant diseases on a broad range of crops. Microbial natural products can be an attractive alternative for the biological control of phytopathogens. The objective of this work was to develop and validate a High-throughput Screening (HTS) platform to evaluate the antifungal potential of chemicals and natural products against these four important plant pathogens. Several experiments were performed to establish the optimal assay conditions that provide the best reproducibility and robustness. For this purpose, we have evaluated two media formulations (SDB and RPMI-1640), several inoculum concentrations (1 × 106, 5 × 105 and 5 × 106 conidia/mL), the germination curves for each strain, each strain’s tolerance to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and the Dose Response Curves (DRC) of the antifungal control (Amphotericin B). The assays were performed in 96-well plate format, where absorbance at 620 nm was measured before and after incubation to evaluate growth inhibition, and fluorescence intensity at 570 nm excitation and 615 nm emission was monitored after resazurin addition for cell viability evaluation. Quality control parameters (RZ’ Factors and Signal to Background (S/B) ratios) were determined for each assay batch. The assay conditions were finally validated by titrating 40 known relevant antifungal agents and testing 2400 microbial natural product extracts from the MEDINA Library through both HTS agar-based and HTS microdilution-based set-ups on the four phytopathogens.
Ignacio Fernández-Pastor, Victor González-Menéndez, Kevin Martínez Andrade, Rachel Serrano, Thomas A. Mackenzie, Guillermo Benítez, Manuel Casares-Porcel, Olga Genilloud, and Fernando Reyes
MDPI AG
In a survey to evaluate the potential of lichens associated with gypsum areas as sources of new antifungal metabolites, six species of lichens were collected in the gypsum outcrops of the Sorbas Desert (Diploschistes ocellatus and Seirophora lacunosa) and the Tabernas Desert (Cladonia foliacea, Acarospora placodiformis, Squamarina lentigera and Xanthoparmelia pokornyi) in southern Spain. Raw lichen acetone extracts were tested against a panel of seven phytopathogenic fungi, including Botrytis cinerea, Colletotrichum acutatum, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp cubense TR4, Fusarium ploriferaum, Magnaporthe grisea, Verticillium dahliae and Zymoseptoria tritici. Active extracts of Cladonia foliacea, Xanthoparmelia pokornyi and Squamarina lentigera were analyzed by HPLC-MS/MS and Molecular Networking to identify possible metabolites responsible for the antifungal activity. A total of ten depside-like metabolites were identified by MS/MS dereplication and NMR experiments, of which one was a new derivative of fumaroprotocetraric acid. The compounds without previously described biological activity were purified and tested against the panel of fungal phytopathogens. Herein, the antifungal activity against fungal phytopathogens of 4′-O-methylpaludosic acid, divaricatic acid and stenosporic acid is reported for the first time. Stenosporic and divaricatic acids displayed a broad antifungal spectrum against seven relevant fungal phytopathogens in a micromolar range, including the extremely resistant fungus F. oxysporum f. sp. cubense Tropical Race 4 (TR4). 4′-O-methylpaludosic acid exhibited specific antifungal activity against the wheat pathogen Z. tritici, with an IC50 of 38.87 µg/mL (87.1 µM) in the absorbance-based assay and 24.88 µg/mL (55.52 µM) in the fluorescence-based assay.
Frederick Boye Annang, Guiomar Pérez-Moreno, Cristina Bosch-Navarrete, Victor González-Menéndez, Jesús Martín, Thomas A. Mackenzie, Maria C. Ramos, Luis M. Ruiz-Pérez, Olga Genilloud, Dolores González-Pacanowska,et al.
MDPI AG
Memnoniella is a fungal genus from which a wide range of diverse biologically active compounds have been isolated. A Memnoniella dichroa CF-080171 extract was identified to exhibit potent activity against Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 and Trypanosoma cruzi Tulahuen whole parasites in a high-throughput screening (HTS) campaign of microbial extracts from the Fundación MEDINA’s collection. Bioassay-guided isolation of the active metabolites from this extract afforded eight new meroterpenoids of varying potencies, namely, memnobotrins C-E (1–3), a glycosylated isobenzofuranone (4), a tricyclic isobenzofuranone (5), a tetracyclic benzopyrane (6), a tetracyclic isobenzofuranone (7), and a pentacyclic isobenzofuranone (8). The structures of the isolated compounds were established by (+)-ESI-TOF high-resolution mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Compounds 1, 2, and 4 exhibited potent antiparasitic activity against P. falciparum 3D7 (EC50 0.04–0.243 μM) and T. cruzi Tulahuen (EC50 0.266–1.37 μM) parasites, as well as cytotoxic activity against HepG2 tumoral liver cells (EC50 1.20–4.84 μM). The remaining compounds (3, 5–8) showed moderate or no activity against the above-mentioned parasites and cells.
Katerina Georgousaki, Victor González-Menéndez, José R. Tormo, Nikolaos Tsafantakis, Thomas A. Mackenzie, Jesús Martín, Sentiljana Gumeni, Ioannis P. Trougakos, Fernando Reyes, Nikolas Fokialakis,et al.
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AbstractAs part of our screening program for the discovery of molecules of microbial origin with skin-whitening activity, 142 diverse fungal endophytes from a wide variety of Andalusia arid plants were screened, applying the OSMAC approach. The fungal strains CF-090361 and CF-090766, isolated from xerophytic plants, were selected as the most promising, while phylogenetic analysis revealed that both strains could represent a new species within the genus Comoclathris. The effect of different fermentation conditions on the production of tyrosinase inhibitory activity was examined, in order to identify the optimum cultivation conditions. LCMS based metabolomics was applied to determine significant differences between the strains and fermentation conditions, and to identify potential bioactive secondary metabolites. Bioassay-guided purification of the main active components led to the isolation of three new compounds (1–3), along with the known compounds graphostrin B (4) and brevianamide M (5). Compound 1 (Comoclathrin) demonstrated the strongest anti-tyrosinase activity (IC50 0.16 μΜ), which was 90-times higher than kojic acid (IC50 14.07 μΜ) used as positive control. Additionally, comoclathrin showed no significant cytotoxicity against a panel of cancer cell lines (HepG2, A2058, A549, MCF-7 and MIA PaCa-2) and normal BJ fibroblasts. These properties render comoclathrin an excellent development candidate as whitening agent.
Matilde Ortiz-Gonzalez, Ignacio Pérez-Victoria, Inmaculada Ramirez-Macias, Nuria de Pedro, Angel Linde-Rodriguez, Víctor González-Menéndez, Victoria Sanchez-Martin, Jesús Martín, Ana Soriano-Lerma, Olga Genilloud,et al.
MDPI AG
Sleeping sickness or African trypanosomiasis is a serious health concern with an added socio-economic impact in sub-Saharan Africa due to direct infection in both humans and their domestic livestock. There is no vaccine available against African trypanosomes and its treatment relies only on chemotherapy. Although the current drugs are effective, most of them are far from the modern concept of a drug in terms of toxicity, specificity and therapeutic regime. In a search for new molecules with trypanocidal activity, a high throughput screening of 2000 microbial extracts was performed. Fractionation of one of these extracts, belonging to a culture of the fungus Amesia sp., yielded a new member of the curvicollide family that has been designated as curvicollide D. The new compound showed an inhibitory concentration 50 (IC50) 16-fold lower in Trypanosoma brucei than in human cells. Moreover, it induced cell cycle arrest and disruption of the nucleolar structure. Finally, we showed that curvicollide D binds to DNA and inhibits transcription in African trypanosomes, resulting in cell death. These results constitute the first report on the activity and mode of action of a member of the curvicollide family in T. brucei.
Xinhui Wang, Rachel Serrano, Victor González-Menéndez, Thomas A. Mackenzie, Maria C. Ramos, Jens C. Frisvad, and Thomas O. Larsen
American Chemical Society (ACS)
The number of species in Aspergillus section Flavi has recently increased to 36 and includes some of the most important and well-known species in the genus Aspergillus. Numerous secondary metabolites, especially mycotoxins, have been reported from species such as A. flavus; however many of the more recently described species are less studied from a chemical point of view. This paper describes the use of MS/MS-based molecular networking to investigate the metabolome of A. caelatus leading to the discovery of several new diketopiperazine dimers and aspergillicins. An MS-guided isolation procedure yielded six new compounds, including asperazines D-H (1-5) and aspergillicin H (6). Asperazines G and H are artifacts derived from asperazines E and F formed during the separation process by formic acid. Two known compounds, aspergillicins A and C (7 and 8), were isolated from the same strain. Structures were elucidated by analyzing their HR-MS/MS and NMR spectroscopic data. The absolute configuration of asperazines D-F and aspergillicin H were deduced from the combination of NMR, Marfey's method, and ECD analyses.
Mamdouh Nabil Samy, Géraldine Le Goff, Philippe Lopes, Katerina Georgousaki, Sentiljana Gumeni, Celso Almeida, Victor Gonzalez-Menendez, Olga Genilloud, Ioannis P. Trougakos, Nikolas Fokialakis,et al.
Informa UK Limited
Abstract Three known compounds were isolated from Virgaria nigra CF-231658; 2,7-dihydroxy naphthalene (1), virgaricin B (2) and virgaricin (3). The isolated compounds was obtained from liquid-state and agar-supported fermentation using Amberlite XAD-16 solid-phase extraction during the cultivation step. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR as well as HRMS spectroscopic analyses. The isolated compounds were examined for their ability to inhibit elastase using normal human diploid fibroblasts. Compound 2 displayed the most potent activity with 76.7 ± 2.12% inhibition of the enzyme activity at 5 μM concentration. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Frederick Annang, Guiomar Pérez-Moreno, Caridad Díaz, Victor González-Menéndez, Nuria de Pedro Montejo, José Pérez del Palacio, Paula Sánchez, Scott Tanghe, Ana Rodriguez, Ignacio Pérez-Victoria,et al.
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Abstract Background Malaria is a global health problem for which novel therapeutic compounds are needed. To this end, a recently published novel family of antiplasmodial macrolides, strasseriolides A–D, was herein subjected to in vivo efficacy studies and preclinical evaluation in order to identify the most promising candidate(s) for further development. Methods Preclinical evaluation of strasseriolides A–D was performed by MTT-based cytotoxicity assay in THLE-2 (CRL-2706) liver cells, cardiotoxicity screening using the FluxOR™ potassium assay in hERG expressed HEK cells, LC–MS-based analysis of drug-drug interaction involving CYP3A4, CYP2D6 and CYP2C9 isoforms inhibition and metabolic stability assays in human liver microsomes. Mice in vivo toxicity studies were also accomplished by i.v. administration of the compounds (vehicle: 0.5% HPMC, 0.5% Tween 80, 0.5% Benzyl alcohol) in mice at 25 mg/kg dosage. Plasma were prepared from mice blood samples obtained at different time points (over a 24-h period), and analysed by LC-MS to quantify compounds. The most promising compounds, strasseriolides C and D, were subjected to a preliminary in vivo efficacy study in which transgenic GFP-luciferase expressing Plasmodium berghei strain ANKA-infected Swiss Webster female mice (n = 4–5) were treated 48 h post-infection with an i.p. dosage of strasseriolide C at 50 mg/kg and strasseriolide D at 22 mg/kg for four days after which luciferase activity was quantified on day 5 in an IVIS® Lumina II imager. Results Strasseriolides A–D showed no cytotoxicity, no carditoxicity and no drug-drug interaction problems in vitro with varying intrinsic clearance (CLint). Only strasseriolide B was highly toxic to mice in vivo (even at 1 mg/kg i.v. dosage) and, therefore, discontinued in further in vivo studies. Strasseriolide D showed statistically significant activity in vivo giving rise to lower parasitaemia levels (70% lower) compared to the controls treated with vehicle. Conclusions Animal efficacy and preclinical evaluation of the recently discovered potent antiplasmodial macrolides, strasseriolides A–D, led to the identification of strasseriolide D as the most promising compound for further development. Future studies dealing on structure optimization, formulation and establishment of optimal in vivo dosage explorations of this novel compound class could enhance their clinical potency and allow for progress to later stages of the developmental pipeline.
Rachel Serrano, Víctor González-Menéndez, Germán Martínez, Clara Toro, Jesús Martín, Olga Genilloud, and José R. Tormo
MDPI AG
Microbial natural products are an invaluable resource for the biotechnological industry. Genome mining studies have highlighted the huge biosynthetic potential of fungi, which is underexploited by standard fermentation conditions. Epigenetic effectors and/or cultivation-based approaches have successfully been applied to activate cryptic biosynthetic pathways in order to produce the chemical diversity suggested in available fungal genomes. The addition of Suberoylanilide Hydroxamic Acid to fermentation processes was evaluated to assess its effect on the metabolomic diversity of a taxonomically diverse fungal population. Here, metabolomic methodologies were implemented to identify changes in secondary metabolite profiles to determine the best fermentation conditions. The results confirmed previously described effects of the epigenetic modifier on the metabolism of a population of 232 wide diverse South Africa fungal strains cultured in different fermentation media where the induction of differential metabolites was observed. Furthermore, one solid-state fermentation (BRFT medium), two classic successful liquid fermentation media (LSFM and YES) and two new liquid media formulations (MCKX and SMK-II) were compared to identify the most productive conditions for the different populations of taxonomic subgroups.
Ignacio Fernández-Pastor, Victor González-Menéndez, Frederick Annang, Clara Toro, Thomas Mackenzie, Cristina Bosch-Navarrete, Olga Genilloud, and Fernando Reyes
MDPI AG
A novel cyclic antimalarial and antitrypanosome hexapeptide, pipecolisporin (1), was isolated from cultures of Nigrospora oryzae CF-298113, a fungal endophyte isolated from roots of Triticum sp. collected in a traditional agricultural land of Montefrío, Granada, Spain. The structure of this compound, including its absolute configuration, was elucidated by HRMS, 1-D and 2-D NMR spectroscopy, and Marfey’s analysis. This metabolite displayed interesting activity against Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosoma cruzi, with IC50 values in the micromolar range, and no significant cytotoxicity against the human cancer cell lines A549, A2058, MCF7, MIA PaCa-2, and HepG2.
Frederick Annang, Guiomar Pérez-Moreno, Víctor González-Menéndez, Rodney Lacret, Ignacio Pérez-Victoria, Jesús Martín, Juan Cantizani, Nuria de Pedro, Duane Choquesillo-Lazarte, Luis M. Ruiz-Pérez,et al.
American Chemical Society (ACS)
A novel family of four potent antimalarial macrolides, strasseriolides A-D (1-4), has been isolated from cultures of Strasseria geniculata CF-247251, a fungal strain obtained from plant tissues. The structures of these compounds, including their absolute configurations, were elucidated by HRMS, NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray single-crystal diffraction. The four compounds gave respective IC50 values of 9.810, 0.013, 0.123, and 0.128 μM against Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 parasites with no significant cytotoxicity against the HepG2 cell line.
Gloria Crespo, Ignacio Pérez-Victoria, Francisco Javier Ortiz-López, Víctor González-Menéndez, Mercedes de la Cruz, Bastien Cautain, Pilar Sánchez, Francisca Vicente, Olga Genilloud, and Fernando Reyes
MDPI AG
An antifungal lipodepsipeptide was obtained from cultures of the fungus Foliophoma fallens CF-236885. Its structure, elucidated by HRMS and NMR spectroscopy, contained Gly, Thr, Asn, β-Ala, Orn, Ala, two Ser residues, and 3-hydroxy-4-methylhexadecanoic acid. The absolute configuration of its amino acid residues was determined using Marfey’s analysis and J-based configuration analysis helped to establish the relative configuration of the 3-hydroxy-4-methylhexadecanoic acid moiety. A literature search retrieved a patent describing antibiotic TKR2999 (1), whose non-disclosed structure was confirmed to be identical to that found for our compound, according to its physicochemical properties and NMR spectra. Compound 1 displayed potent antifungal activity against Aspergillus fumigatus and a panel of Candida strains.
Katerina Georgousaki, Nikolaos Tsafantakis, Sentiljana Gumeni, George Lambrinidis, Victor González-Menéndez, Jose R. Tormo, Olga Genilloud, Ioannis P. Trougakos, and Nikolas Fokialakis
MDPI AG
A main cellular functional module that becomes dysfunctional during aging is the proteostasis network. In the present study, we show that benzoic acid derivatives isolated from Bjerkandera adusta promote the activity of the two main protein degradation systems, namely the ubiquitin-proteasome (UPP) and especially the autophagy-lysosome pathway (ALP) in human foreskin fibroblasts. Our findings were further supported by in silico studies, where all compounds were found to be putative binders of both cathepsins B and L. Among them, compound 3 (3-chloro-4-methoxybenzoic acid) showed the most potent interaction with both enzymes, which justifies the strong activation of cathepsins B and L (467.3 ± 3.9%) on cell-based assays. Considering that the activity of both the UPP and ALP pathways decreases with aging, our results suggest that the hydroxybenzoic acid scaffold could be considered as a promising candidate for the development of novel modulators of the proteostasis network, and likely of anti-aging agents.
Katerina Georgousaki, Nikolaos Tsafantakis, Sentiljana Gumeni, Victor González-Menéndez, Nuria de Pedro, José Rubén Tormo, Celso Almeida, Carole Lambert, Olga Genilloud, Ioannis P. Trougakos,et al.
Elsevier BV
Victor González-Menéndez, Gloria Crespo, Clara Toro, Jesús Martín, Nuria de Pedro, Jose R Tormo, and Olga Genilloud
MDPI AG
Fungi are one of the most prolific sources of microbial secondary metabolites. The production of new metabolites can be achieved using multiple fermentation conditions and by adding small-molecule effectors, including epigenetic modifiers. In the framework of our Natural Product screening programme targeting the discovery of new antimicrobial compounds, we applied multiple fermentation conditions and adsorptive polymeric resins on a large collection of fungal endophytes, to increase and stimulate their fungal secondary metabolite production. During this work the endophytic fungus Dimorphosporicola tragani CF-090383 showed antimicrobial activity only when grown in presence of adsorptive polymeric resins. In addition, seven epigenetic modifiers were added to fermentations of this endophytic fungus, in an attempt to activate its cryptic pathways as well as to analyse the metabolites produced under these conditions. D. tragani was seen to produce three different mycotoxin dendrodolides when the epigenetic modifiers 5-azacytidine and valproic acid were added to the fermentations, and these compounds were further characterized. However, the fungus produced the fatty acid synthesis inhibitor cerulenin, a molecule not previously described to be produced by this fungal species, only when cultivated in presence of the XAD-16 resin. We have found that the addition of XAD-16 resin resulted in four-fold higher titers in the production of cerulenin when compared to the best production conditions described in literature for the original fungal producer strain, Cephalosporium caerulens KF-140 (=Sarocladium oryzae), in a zeolite-based fermentation, used as an ammonium ion-trapping agent. The production of cerulenin by this strain of D. tragani, represents an alternative source for the improved production of cerulenin with better yields.
Victor González-Menéndez, Gloria Crespo, Nuria de Pedro, Caridad Diaz, Jesús Martín, Rachel Serrano, Thomas A. Mackenzie, Carlos Justicia, M. Reyes González-Tejero, M. Casares,et al.
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AbstractNative plant communities from arid areas present distinctive characteristics to survive in extreme conditions. The large number of poorly studied endemic plants represents a unique potential source for the discovery of novel fungal symbionts as well as host-specific endophytes not yet described. The addition of adsorptive polymeric resins in fungal fermentations has been seen to promote the production of new secondary metabolites and is a tool used consistently to generate new compounds with potential biological activities. A total of 349 fungal strains isolated from 63 selected plant species from arid ecosystems located in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, were characterized morphologically as well as based on their ITS/28S ribosomal gene sequences. The fungal community isolated was distributed among 19 orders including Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes, being Pleosporales the most abundant order. In total, 107 different genera were identified being Neocamarosporium the genus most frequently isolated from these plants, followed by Preussia and Alternaria. Strains were grown in four different media in presence and absence of selected resins to promote chemical diversity generation of new secondary metabolites. Fermentation extracts were evaluated, looking for new antifungal activities against plant and human fungal pathogens, as well as, cytotoxic activities against the human liver cancer cell line HepG2. From the 349 isolates tested, 126 (36%) exhibited significant bioactivities including 58 strains with exclusive antifungal properties and 33 strains with exclusive activity against the HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line. After LCMS analysis, 68 known bioactive secondary metabolites could be identified as produced by 96 strains, and 12 likely unknown compounds were found in a subset of 14 fungal endophytes. The chemical profiles of the differential expression of induced activities were compared. As proof of concept, ten active secondary metabolites only produced in the presence of resins were purified and identified. The structures of three of these compounds were new and herein are elucidated.
Víctor González-Menéndez, Germán Martínez, Rachel Serrano, Francisca Muñoz, Jesús Martín, Olga Genilloud, and José R. Tormo
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Celso Almeida, Cristina Silva Pereira, Victor Gonzalez-Menendez, Gerald Bills, Javier Pascual, Marina Sánchez-Hidalgo, Stefan Kehraus, and Olga Genilloud
American Society for Microbiology
The discovery of two bacterial endosymbionts harbored in Stachylidium bicolor mycelium, Burkholderia contaminans and Sphingomonas leidyi , is described here. Production of tetrapeptides inside the mycelium is ensured by B. contaminans , and fungal sporulation is influenced by the endosymbionts. Here, we illustrate the bacterial endosymbiotic origin of secondary metabolites in an Ascomycota host.
Celso Almeida, Ignacio Pérez-Victoria, Víctor González-Menéndez, Nuria de Pedro, Jesús Martín, Gloria Crespo, Thomas Mackenzie, Bastien Cautain, Fernando Reyes, Francisca Vicente,et al.
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Two new epimeric dihalogenated diaporthins, (9 R *)-8-methyl-9,11-dichlorodiaporthin (2) and (9 S *)-8-methyl-9,11-dichlorodiaporthin (3), have been isolated from the soil fungus Hamigera fusca NRRL 35721 alongside the known regioisomeric isocoumarin 8-methyl-11,11-dichlorodiaporthin (1). Their structures were elucidated by high-resolution mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy combined with molecular modeling. Compounds 1-3 are the first isocoumarins and the first halogenated metabolites ever reported from the Hamigera genus. The new compounds 2 and 3 display a non-geminal aliphatic dichlorination pattern unprecedented among known fungal dihalogenated aromatic polyketides. A bifunctional methyltransferase/aliphatic halogenase flavoenzyme is proposed to be involved in the biosynthesis of dichlorinated diaporthins 1-3. These metabolites are weakly cytotoxic.
Michele Bertoni-Mann, Marina Sánchez-Hidalgo, Victor González-Menéndez, and Olga Genilloud
American Society for Microbiology
Volume 4, no. 5, e01164-16, 2017, [https://doi.org/10.1128/genomeA.01164-16][1]. Page 1: The article title should read as given above, and the fungal strain should be identified throughout as Fusarium proliferatum CF-295141 rather than Fusarium fujikuroi CF-295141.
[1]: /lookup/doi/10.1128/genomeA
Celso Almeida, Gerald Bills, Víctor González-Menéndez, Jesús Martin, José R. Tormo, and Olga Genilloud
MDPI AG
Previous investigations of the sponge-derived fungus Stachylidium bicolor (S. bicolor) 293K04 led to the isolation of the biosynthetically unusual polyketides marilines A-C and the bioactive tetrapeptides endolides A-B, identified as potential neuropathic drug leads. Furthermore, prior extended solid cultivation of S. bicolor 293K04 for 60 days resulted in a significant increase of polyketide yield, and the isolation of seven new polyketides. Due to the interest in endolide activity, unusual biosynthetic diversity, and the late stage polyketide production, we studied the cultivation conditions for determining the production time distribution and yields of these secondary metabolites. Results indicated a first production phase of secondary metabolite dominated by peptides, after 21–23 days. Polyketide mariline A1/A2 only started at day 35 of growth, an unusually late period for secondary metabolite expression. This unusual bimodal sequential expression of different families of secondary metabolites suggests value in exploring extended cultivation times to identify novel bioactive fungal compounds.
Víctor Gonzalez-Menendez, Jesus Martin, Jose A. Siles, M. Reyes Gonzalez-Tejero, Fernando Reyes, Gonzalo Platas, Jose R. Tormo, and Olga Genilloud
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Mercedes Pérez-Bonilla, Víctor González-Menéndez, Ignacio Pérez-Victoria, Nuria de Pedro, Jesús Martín, Joaquín Molero-Mesa, Manuel Casares-Porcel, María Reyes González-Tejero, Francisca Vicente, Olga Genilloud,et al.
American Chemical Society (ACS)
A search for cytotoxic agents from cultures of the endophytic fungus Dothiora sp., isolated from the endemic plant Launaea arborescens, led to the isolation of six new compounds structurally related to hormonemate, with moderate cytotoxic activity against different cancer cell lines. By using a bioassay-guided fractionation approach, hormonemates A-D (1-4), hormonemate (5), and hormonemates E (6) and F (7) were obtained from the acetone extract of this fungus. Their structures were determined using a combination of HRMS, ESI-qTOF-MS/MS, 1D and 2D NMR experiments, and chemical degradation. The cytotoxic activities of these compounds were evaluated by microdilution colorimetric assays against human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), human liver cancer cells (HepG2), and pancreatic cancer cells (MiaPaca_2). Most of the compounds displayed cytotoxic activity against this panel.