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
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Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
Leaf litter associated fungi from South Africa to control fungal plant pathogens Rachel Serrano, Víctor González-Menéndez, Ignacio Pérez-Victoria, Isabel Sánchez, Clara Toro, Thomas A. Mackenzie, Jesús Martín, José R. Tormo, Olga Genilloud Scientific Reports, 2025 Fungal genomes encode a huge biosynthetic potential to produce a wide diversity of chemical structures with valuable biological activities remaining silent or under-expressed with standard laboratory conditions. Fungal natural products provide numerous environmentally friendly properties that make them an attractive alternative to the use of synthetic pesticides for the control management of fungal diseases in plants. The main goal of this study was to explore the potential application of a library of natural products extracts from 232 diverse leaf litter associated fungi from South Africa for the discovery of new bio-fungicides. Fungal strains obtained from the MEDINA Fungal Collection were taxonomically classified following molecular and phylogenetic analyses, revealing a high diversity of fungal strains associated with leaf litter from endemic plants of South Africa. A previously designed library prepared following a specific OSMAC approach was employed in this work to evaluate the antifungal activity on a panel of four relevant fungal phytopathogens, using a recently developed HTS platform. The presence of the epigenetic modifier suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) during fungal fermentations in specific formulation media determined considerable changes in the metabolomic profiles that clearly influenced the diversity and quantity of bioactive metabolites, which also affected the activity hit-rates. As a proof of concept, we describe herein the discovery of the novel molecule libertamide upon the addition of SAHA during the fermentation of the strain Libertasomyces aloeticus CF-168990. Libertamide showed antifungal potential to control Zymoseptoria tritici, the causal agent of septoria leave blotch. As result of the study, we show that leaf litter from South Africa is still an untapped source of new fungal species with large biosynthetic potential to produce promising candidates for the discovery of new natural fungicides.
Bovistols E and F, New bis-Sesquiterpenes Isolated From Psathyrella microrhiza CF-117891 Frederick Boye Annang, Guiomar Pérez‐Moreno, Cristina Bosch‐Navarrete, Victor González‐Menéndez, Jesús Martín, Mercedes Pérez‐Bonilla, Luis M. Ruiz‐Pérez, Olga Genilloud, Dolores González‐Pacanowska, Francisca Vicente, Fernando Reyes Chemistry and Biodiversity, 2025 Bioactivity‐based purification of the acetone extract of a culture of the fungus Psathyrella microrhiza CF‐117891 led to the isolation of the new bis‐sesquiterpenes bovistols E and F (1 and 2) together with the anti‐plasmodial coriolic acid (3). The structures of the new compounds isolated were determined by a combination of positive electrospray ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Of the three compounds isolated, coriolic acid displayed previously unreported moderate anti‐Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 activity, with a half‐maximal effective concentration value of 17.8 µM, whereas the new bovistols did not show any biological activity in their pure forms against this parasite nor against Trypanosoma cruzi Tulahuen parasites.
Glycinocins E-H, Antimicrobial Lipopeptides Produced by a Streptomyces Strain Ignacio Fernández-Pastor, Victor González-Menéndez, Ignacio González, Pilar Sanchez, Rachel Serrano, Thomas A Mackenzie, Daniel Oves-Costales, Manuel Casares Porcel, Olga Genilloud, Fernando Reyes Journal of Natural Products, 2025 In an antifungal screening of extracts from microbial strains isolated from gypsum outcrops in Granada, Spain, four new cyclic lipopeptides, glycinocins E–H ( 1 – 4 ), were identified from Streptomyces sp. CA-297274 and exhibited potent activity against Zymoseptoria tritici, the causal agent of septoria tritici blotch of wheat. Isolation and structure elucidation performed using HR-MS/MS, 1D and 2D NMR, and Marfey’s analyses, revealed that structures contained an Asp-Gly-Asp-Gly motif in the peptide scaffold, typical of calcium-dependent antibiotics. Genome sequencing and bioinformatic analysis of the strain uncovered a biosynthetic gene cluster consistent with the production of these compounds and helped to correct the absolute configuration determined by Marfey’s analysis of some amino acid residues. The isolated metabolites displayed notable antifungal activity against Z. tritici, with minimum inhibitory concentration values in the micromolar range (Compound 4, 9.5 μM), and calcium-dependent antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (5.2 μM for 4 ) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (3.0 μM for 4 ), as anticipated by their structural analysis. Glycinocins E–H displayed no cytotoxicity against the human liver cancer cell line HepG2. These findings expand the chemical diversity of calcium-dependent antibiotics and highlight the ecological and therapeutic potential of extremophile-derived actinomycetes as a source of novel bioactive compounds.
MDN-0057 to MDN-0060, a Family of Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics against Gram-Negative Pathogens Produced by Ophiosphaerella korrae Ignacio Pérez-Victoria, Noureddine El Aouad, Víctor González-Menéndez, Mercedes de La Cruz, Lidia Lorenzo Fernández, Jesús Martín, José R. Tormo, Grégory Genta-Jouve, Olivier P. Thomas, Francisca Vicente, Gerald F. Bills, Olga Genilloud, Fernando Reyes Journal of Natural Products, 2025 A novel family of antibiotics, MDN-0057 to MDN-0060 (1-4), was isolated from liquid cultures of the fungus Ophiosphaerella korrae. These compounds incorporate two isocyanide groups in their complex structures that were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including HRESIMS, and 1D and 2D NMR experiments. The relative configurations were determined by using J-based configuration analyses and the interpretation of key NOESY correlations consistent with the existence of a major conformation in solution. Mosher ester derivatization analysis allowed the establishment of their absolute configurations. All four compounds displayed in vitro antibacterial activity with a broad spectrum against Gram-negative pathogens.
Onychocolone A produced by the fungus Onychocola sp. targets cancer stem cells and stops pancreatic cancer progression by inhibiting MEK2-dependent cell signaling Maria C. Ramos, Gloria Crespo-Sueiro, Nuria de Pedro, Carmen Griñán-Lisón, Caridad Díaz, Ignacio Pérez-Victoria, Víctor González-Menéndez, Francisco Castillo, Jose Pérez del Palacio, Jose R. Tormo, Duane Choquesillo-Lazarte, Juan A. Marchal, Francisca Vicente, Rosario Fernández-Godino, Olga Genilloud, Fernando Reyes Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy, 2024 Pancreatic cancer (PC) shows a high fatality rate that can only be faced with a combination of surgery and chemotherapy or palliative treatment in the case of advanced patients. Besides, PC tumors are enriched with subpopulations of cancer stem cells (CSCs) that are resistant to the existing chemotherapeutic agents, which raises an important need for the identification of new drugs. To fill this gap, we have tested the anti-tumoral activity of microbial extracts, which chemical diversity offers a broad spectrum of potential new bioactive compounds. Extracts derived from the fungus Onychocola sp. CF-107644 were assayed via high throughput screening followed by bioassay-guided fractionation and resulted in the identification and isolation of six benzophenone derivatives with antitumoral activity: onychocolones A-F (# 1 - 6 ). The structures of the compounds were established by spectroscopic methods, including ESI-TOF MS, 1D and 2D NMR analyses and X-ray diffraction. Compounds # 1 - 4 significantly inhibited the growth of the pancreas tumoral cell lines, with low-micromolar Median Effective Doses (ED 50 s). Compound # 1 (onychocolone A) was prioritized for further profiling due to its pro-apoptotic effect, which was further validated on 3D spheroids and pancreatic CSCs. Protein expression assays showed that the effect was mechanistically linked to the inhibition of MEK onco-signaling pathway. The efficacy of onychocolone A was also demonstrated in vivo by the reduction of tumor growth in a pancreatic xenograft mouse model generated by CSCs. Altogether, the data support that onychocolone A is a promising new small molecule for hit-to-lead development of a new treatment for PC. • Identification of a novel anti-tumoral natural compound: onychocolone A. • MoA of onychocolone A is the inhibition of Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway. • Onychocolone A shows therapeutic value on functional 3D spheroids and CSC. • Onychocolone A reduces tumor growth in a xenograft pancreatic mouse model. • Preclinical studies support the potential of onychocolone A as a new drug for pancreatic cancer.
Escuzarmycins A-D, Potent Biofungicides to Control Septoria tritici Blotch Ignacio Fernández-Pastor, Victor González-Menéndez, Ignacio González, Rachel Serrano, Thomas A. Mackenzie, Guillermo Benítez, Manuel Casares-Porcel, Olga Genilloud, Fernando Reyes Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2024 A study targeting novel antifungal metabolites identified potent in vitro antifungal activity against key plant pathogens in acetone extracts of Streptomyces sp. strain CA-296093. Feature-based molecular networking revealed the presence in this extract of antimycin-related compounds, leading to the isolation of four new compounds: escuzarmycins A-D (1-4). Extensive structural elucidation, employing 1D and 2D NMR, high-resolution mass spectrometry, Marfey's analysis, and NOESY correlations, confirmed their structures. The bioactivity of these compounds was tested against six fungal phytopathogens, and compounds 3 and 4 demonstrated strong efficacy, particularly against Zymoseptoria tritici, with compound 3 exhibiting the highest potency (EC50: 11 nM). Both compounds also displayed significant antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea and Colletotrichum acutatum, with compound 4 proving to be the most potent. Despite moderate cytotoxicity against the human cancer cell line HepG2, compounds 3 and 4 emerge as promising fungicides for combating Septoria tritici blotch, anthracnose, and gray mold.
Naphthoquinone Derivatives from Angustimassarina populi CF-097565 Display Anti-Tumour Activity in 3D Cultures of Breast Cancer Cells Thomas A. Mackenzie, Fernando Reyes, Marta Martínez, Víctor González-Menéndez, Isabel Sánchez, Olga Genilloud, José R. Tormo, María C. Ramos Molecules, 2024 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.
Evaluation of pro-regenerative and anti-inflammatory effects of isolecanoric acid in the muscle: Potential treatment of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy 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, Francisco Hernandez-Torres, Amelia Eva Aranega Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy, 2024 Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a devastating degenerative disease of skeletal muscles caused by loss of dystrophin, a key protein that maintains muscle integrity, which leads to progressive muscle degeneration aggravated by chronic inflammation, muscle stem cells' (MuSCs) reduced regenerative capacity and replacement of muscle with fibroadipose tissue. Previous research has shown that pharmacological GSK-3β inhibition favors myogenic differentiation and plays an important role in modulating inflammatory processes. Isolecanoric acid (ILA) is a natural product isolated from a fungal culture displaying GSK-3β inhibitory properties. The present study aimed to investigate the proregenerative and anti-inflammatory properties of this natural compound in the DMD context. Our results showed that ILA markedly promotes myogenic differentiation of myoblasts by increasing β-Catenin signaling and boosting the myogenic potential of mouse and human stem cells. One important finding was that the GSK-3β/β-Catenin pathway is altered in dystrophic mice muscle and ILA enhances the myofiber formation of dystrophic MuSCs. Treatment with this natural compound improves muscle regeneration of dystrophic mice by, in turn, improving functional performance. Moreover, ILA ameliorates the inflammatory response in both muscle explants and the macrophages isolated from dystrophic mice to, thus, mitigate fibrosis after muscle damage. Overall, we show that ILA modulates both inflammation and muscle regeneration to, thus, contribute to improve the dystrophic phenotype.
Development and Validation of a HTS Platform for the Discovery of New Antifungal Agents against Four Relevant Fungal Phytopathogens Rachel Serrano, Víctor González-Menéndez, José R. Tormo, Olga Genilloud Journal of Fungi, 2023 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.
Xerophytic Lichens from Gypsiferous Outcrops of Arid Areas of Andalusia as a Source of Anti-Phytopathogenic Depsides Ignacio Fernández-Pastor, Victor González-Menéndez, Kevin Martínez Andrade, Rachel Serrano, Thomas A. Mackenzie, Guillermo Benítez, Manuel Casares-Porcel, Olga Genilloud, Fernando Reyes Journal of Fungi, 2023 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.
Antiparasitic Meroterpenoids Isolated from Memnoniella dichroa CF-080171 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, Francisca Vicente, Fernando Reyes Pharmaceutics, 2023
Curvicollide D Isolated from the Fungus Amesia sp. Kills African Trypanosomes by Inhibiting Transcription 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, Virginia Perez-Carrasco, Francisca Vicente, José Maceira, Carlos A. Rodrígues-Poveda, José María Navarro-Marí, Fernando Reyes, Miguel Soriano, Jose A. Garcia-Salcedo International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2022
Hormonemate Derivatives from Dothiora sp., an Endophytic Fungus 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, José R. Tormo, Fernando Reyes Journal of Natural Products, 2017
MDN-0104, an antiplasmodial betaine lipid from heterospora chenopodii Jesús Martín, Gloria Crespo, Víctor González-Menéndez, Guiomar Pérez-Moreno, Paula Sánchez-Carrasco, Ignacio Pérez-Victoria, Luis M. Ruiz-Pérez, Dolores González-Pacanowska, Francisca Vicente, Olga Genilloud, Gerald F. Bills, Fernando Reyes Journal of Natural Products, 2014
Graminin B, a furanone from the fungus Paraconiothyrium sp. Celso Almeida, Noureddine El Aouad, Jesús Martín, Ignacio Pérez-Victoria, Víctor González-Menéndez, Gonzalo Platas, Mercedes de la Cruz, Maria Cândida Monteiro, Nuria de Pedro, Gerald F Bills, Francisca Vicente, Olga Genilloud, Fernando Reyes Journal of Antibiotics, 2014
High-content screening of natural products reveals novel nuclear export inhibitors Bastien Cautain, Nuria de Pedro, Virginia Murillo Garzón, María Muñoz de Escalona, Victor González Menéndez, José R. Tormo, Jesús Martin, Noureddine El Aouad, Fernando Reyes, Francisco Asensio, Olga Genilloud, Francisca Vicente, Wolfgang Link Journal of Biomolecular Screening, 2014
Lasionectrin, a naphthopyrone from a Lasionectria sp. Noureddine El Aouad, Guiomar Pérez-Moreno, Paula Sánchez, Juan Cantizani, Francisco Javier Ortiz-López, Jesús Martín, Víctor González-Menéndez, Luis M. Ruiz-Pérez, Dolores González-Pacanowska, Francisca Vicente, Gerald Bills, Fernando Reyes Journal of Natural Products, 2012
Isolation and structural elucidation of cyclic tetrapeptides from Onychocola sclerotica Ignacio Pérez-Victoria, Jesús Martín, Víctor González-Menéndez, Nuria de Pedro, Noureddine El Aouad, Francisco Javier Ortiz-López, José Rubén Tormo, Gonzalo Platas, Francisca Vicente, Gerald F. Bills, Olga Genilloud, Michael A. Goetz, Fernando Reyes Journal of Natural Products, 2012
Chemical and physical modulation of antibiotic activity in Emericella species Mercedes de la Cruz, Jesús Martín, Victor González‐Menéndez, Ignacio Pérez‐Victoria, Catalina Moreno, José Rubén Tormo, Noureddine El Aouad, Josep Guarro, Francisca Vicente, Fernando Reyes, Gerald F. Bills Chemistry and Biodiversity, 2012
