New Perspectives on Bioactive Compounds in Mushrooms

A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X). This special issue belongs to the section "Fungal Cell Biology, Metabolism and Physiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 10437

Special Issue Editor

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC V2N 4Z9, Canada
Interests: natural products from macrofungi/mushrooms; natural products chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology; isolation and structure elucidation of fungal natural products; bioactive small molecules and polysaccharides; heterologous expression of fungal biosynthetic gene clusters
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fungi are well-known for producing a repertoire of bioactive natural compounds. In fact, for thousands of years, our forefathers had used mushrooms, the fruiting bodies of fungi, for medicinal purposes. It is estimated that less than 10% of fungi out of a few million have only been discovered, suggesting that fungi, including mushrooms, are in fact great sources for yet undiscovered bioactive compounds. The majority of bioactive compounds discovered from mushrooms are small molecules, which include diterpenes, sesquiterpenoids, anthracenones, and amines, as well as large molecules such as polysaccharides. Increasing evidence also shows that mushrooms are sources of bioactive polyunsaturated fatty acids and bioactive RNA.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to encourage authors working in the field of bioactive compounds in mushrooms/fungi to publish their most recent important work in this rapidly growing leading journal. Articles with new perspectives on bioactive compounds isolated from mushrooms/fungi are particularly welcome.

In this Special Issue, various types of articles (original research papers, reviews, perspectives, and opinions) are welcome. The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following themes:

  • fungal natural chemistry, including fungal natural product isolation, structural elucidation, and bioactivity;
  • fungal natural product biosynthesis using heterologous expression;
  • bioactive fatty acids, polysaccharides, or RNA isolated from mushrooms/fungi;
  • known compounds from mushrooms/fungi with new bioactivity.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Chow Lee
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fungal natural products
  • bioactive compounds
  • bioactivity
  • mushrooms
  • structural elucidation
  • biosynthesis
  • heterologous expression
  • small molecules
  • bioactive polysaccharides
  • bioactive fatty acids
  • bioactive RNA

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 2421 KiB  
Article
Metabolomic Profiling of Different Antrodia cinnamomea Phenotypes
by Chun-Han Su, Yun-Cheng Hsieh, Jin-Yi Chng, Ming-Nan Lai and Lean-Teik Ng
J. Fungi 2023, 9(1), 97; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9010097 - 10 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1317
Abstract
Antrodia cinnamomea (AC) is a precious medicinal fungus with numerous therapeutic benefits. Based on the color appearance of its fruiting bodies, AC can be divided into red AC (RAC), yellow AC (YAC), and white AC (WAC); however, the differences in their metabolomic profiles [...] Read more.
Antrodia cinnamomea (AC) is a precious medicinal fungus with numerous therapeutic benefits. Based on the color appearance of its fruiting bodies, AC can be divided into red AC (RAC), yellow AC (YAC), and white AC (WAC); however, the differences in their metabolomic profiles remain unknown. This study aimed to analyze the metabolomic profiles of three different AC phenotypes and examine their relationship to the color appearance of fruiting bodies. The results showed that although RAC, YAC, and WAC appear to have a relatively similar profile of index triterpenoids, their total triterpenoid contents were significantly different. Among the annotated triterpenoids, many of them were highly present in RAC but not in YAC and WAC, and the relative contents of the four ergostanes (antcamphin F, antcamphin L, antcin B, and antcin K) and one lanostane (versisponic acid D) were found to be significantly different among AC phenotypes. The metabolomic profiles of the AC fruiting bodies demonstrated a total of 140 metabolites, and 41 of them were very different among AC phenotypes. This study indicates that red, yellow, and white AC can biosynthesize the diverse structures of triterpenoids, and RAC possesses a relatively higher contents of triterpenoids and diverse unannotated metabolites than YAC and WAC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives on Bioactive Compounds in Mushrooms)
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21 pages, 1370 KiB  
Article
Antiproliferative Fatty Acids Isolated from the Polypore Fungus Onnia tomentosa
by Hooi Xian Lee, Wai Ming Li, Jatinder Khatra, Zhicheng Xia, Oleg Sannikov, Yun Ling, Haoxuan Zhu and Chow H. Lee
J. Fungi 2022, 8(11), 1163; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof8111163 - 03 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1516
Abstract
Onnia tomentosa is a widespread root rot pathogen frequently found in coniferous forests in North America. In this study, the potential medicinal properties of this wild polypore mushroom collected from north–central British Columbia, Canada, were investigated. The ethanol extract from O. tomentosa was [...] Read more.
Onnia tomentosa is a widespread root rot pathogen frequently found in coniferous forests in North America. In this study, the potential medicinal properties of this wild polypore mushroom collected from north–central British Columbia, Canada, were investigated. The ethanol extract from O. tomentosa was found to exhibit strong antiproliferative activity. Liquid–liquid extraction and bioactivity-guided fractionation, together with HPLC-MS/MS and 1D/2D NMR analyses of the ethanol extract of O. tomentosa, led to the identification of eight known linoleic oxygenated fatty acids (1.11.4 and 25), together with linoleic (6) and oleic acids (7). The autoxidation of linoleic acid upon isolation from a natural source and compound 5 as an autoxidation product of linoleic acid are reported here for the first time. GC-FID analysis of O. tomentosa, Fomitopsis officinalis, Echinodontium tinctorium, and Albatrellus flettii revealed linoleic, oleic, palmitic, and stearic acids as the major fatty acids. This study further showed that fatty acids were the major antiproliferative constituents in the ethanol extract from O. tomentosa. Linoleic acid and oleic acid had IC50 values of 50.3 and 90.4 µM against human cervical cancer cells (HeLa), respectively. The results from this study have implications regarding the future exploration of O. tomentosa as a possible edible and/or medicinal mushroom. It is also recommended that necessary caution be taken when isolating unstable fatty acids from natural sources and in interpreting the results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives on Bioactive Compounds in Mushrooms)
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11 pages, 1428 KiB  
Article
The Biosynthesis of 1-octene-3-ol by a Multifunctional Fatty Acid Dioxygenase and Hydroperoxide Lyase in Agaricus bisporus
by Tongfu Su, Yuannan Chen, Haohao Liu, Yuqian Gao, Jiawen Guo, Yanan Li, Yuancheng Qi and Liyou Qiu
J. Fungi 2022, 8(8), 827; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof8080827 - 08 Aug 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1901
Abstract
The biosynthetic pathway from linoleic acid to 1-octen-3-ol in Agaricus bisporus has long been established, in which linoleic acid is converted to 10-hydroperoxide (10-HPOD) by deoxygenation, and 10-HPOD is subsequently cleaved to yield 1-octene-3-ol and 10-oxodecanoic acid. However, the corresponding enzymes have not [...] Read more.
The biosynthetic pathway from linoleic acid to 1-octen-3-ol in Agaricus bisporus has long been established, in which linoleic acid is converted to 10-hydroperoxide (10-HPOD) by deoxygenation, and 10-HPOD is subsequently cleaved to yield 1-octene-3-ol and 10-oxodecanoic acid. However, the corresponding enzymes have not been identified and cloned. In the present study, four putative genes involved in oxylipid biosynthesis, including one lipoxygenase gene named AbLOX, two linoleate diol synthase genes named AbLDS1 and AbLDS2, and one hydroperoxide lyase gene named AbHPL were retrieved from the A. bisporus genome by a homology search and cloned and expressed prokaryotically. AbLOX, AbLDS1, and AbLDS2 all exhibited fatty acid dioxygenase activity, catalyzing the conversion of linoleic acid to generate hydroperoxide, and AbHPL showed a cleaving hydroperoxide activity, as was determined by the KI-starch method. AbLOX and AbHPL catalyzed linoleic acid to 1-octen-3-ol with an optimum temperature of 35 °C and an optimum pH of 7.2, whereas AbLDS1, AbLDS2, and AbHPL catalyzed linoleic acid without 1-octen-3-ol. Reduced AbLOX expression in antisense AbLOX transformants was correlated with a decrease in the yield of 1-octen-3-ol. AbLOX and AbHPL were highly homologous to the sesquiterpene synthase Cop4 of Coprinus cinerea and the yeast sterol C-22 desaturase, respectively. These results reveal that the enzymes for the oxidative cleavage of linoleic acid to synthesize 1-octen-3-ol in A. bisporus are the multifunctional fatty acid dioxygenase AbLOX and hydroperoxide lyase AbHPL. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives on Bioactive Compounds in Mushrooms)
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20 pages, 822 KiB  
Article
Bioactivity of Biomass and Crude Exopolysaccharides Obtained by Controlled Submerged Cultivation of Medicinal Mushroom Trametes versicolor
by Galena Angelova, Mariya Brazkova, Dasha Mihaylova, Anton Slavov, Nadejda Petkova, Denica Blazheva, Ivelina Deseva, Irina Gotova, Zhechko Dimitrov and Albert Krastanov
J. Fungi 2022, 8(7), 738; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof8070738 - 17 Jul 2022
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2859
Abstract
The aim of this study is to characterize the bioactivity of mycelial biomass and crude exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by Trametes versicolor NBIMCC 8939 and to reveal its nutraceutical potential. The EPS (1.58 g/L) were isolated from a culture broth. The macrofungal biomass was [...] Read more.
The aim of this study is to characterize the bioactivity of mycelial biomass and crude exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by Trametes versicolor NBIMCC 8939 and to reveal its nutraceutical potential. The EPS (1.58 g/L) were isolated from a culture broth. The macrofungal biomass was rich in protein, insoluble dietary fibers and glucans. The amino acid composition of the biomass was analyzed and 18 amino acids were detected. Three mycelial biomass extracts were prepared and the highest total polyphenol content (16.11 ± 0.14 mg GAE/g DW) and the total flavonoid content (5.15 ± 0.03 mg QE/g DW) were found in the water extract. The results indicated that the obtained EPS were heteropolysaccharides with glucose as the main building monosaccharide and minor amounts of mannose, xylose, galactose, fucose and glucuronic acid. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the complex structure of the crude EPS. Five probiotic lactic acid bacteria strains were used for the determination of the prebiotic effect of the crude EPS. The anti-inflammatory potential was tested in vitro using cell line HT-29. The significant decrease of IL-1 and IL-8 and increase of TGF-beta expression revealed anti-inflammatory potential of the crude exopolysaccharides from T. versicolor. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives on Bioactive Compounds in Mushrooms)
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Review

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17 pages, 1026 KiB  
Review
Fungal β-Glucan-Based Nanotherapeutics: From Fabrication to Application
by Fan Yang and Peter Chi Keung Cheung
J. Fungi 2023, 9(4), 475; https://doi.org/10.3390/jof9040475 - 15 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1940
Abstract
Fungal β-glucans are naturally occurring active macromolecules used in food and medicine due to their wide range of biological activities and positive health benefits. Significant research efforts have been devoted over the past decade to producing fungal β-glucan-based nanomaterials and promoting their uses [...] Read more.
Fungal β-glucans are naturally occurring active macromolecules used in food and medicine due to their wide range of biological activities and positive health benefits. Significant research efforts have been devoted over the past decade to producing fungal β-glucan-based nanomaterials and promoting their uses in numerous fields, including biomedicine. Herein, this review offers an up-to-date report on the synthetic strategies of common fungal β-glucan-based nanomaterials and preparation methods such as nanoprecipitation and emulsification. In addition, we highlight current examples of fungal β-glucan-based theranostic nanosystems and their prospective use for drug delivery and treatment in anti-cancer, vaccination, as well as anti-inflammatory treatments. It is anticipated that future advances in polysaccharide chemistry and nanotechnology will aid in the clinical translation of fungal β-glucan-based nanomaterials for the delivery of drugs and the treatment of illnesses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives on Bioactive Compounds in Mushrooms)
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