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Microbial Bioactive Secondary Metabolites: Extraction, Separation, and Bioactivities

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 2892

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Prof. Dr. Sabrin R. Mohamed Ibrahim

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Department of Chemistry, Preparatory Year Program, Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah 21442, Saudi Arabia
Interests: natural product chemistry; medicinal plants; structure elucidation; endophytes; marine-derived natural products; biological activities

Prof. Dr. Gamal Abdallah Mohamed

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Department of Natural Products and Alternative Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Interests: isolation and structural elucidation; marine-derived metabolites; medicinal plants; fungal metabolites; pharmacological evaluation; natural products chemistry

Prof. Dr. Abdelsattar M. Omar

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Interests: design and synthesis of new compounds for biological screening; computer aided drug design; molecular modeling; structure prediction; protein structure, interactions, and dynamics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

People throughout history have long depended on natural resources, including plants, animals, and microorganisms, as remedies for various ailments such as malaria, cancer, diabetes, inflammation, arthritis, and cardiac and liver disorders. In comparison with the limitation of plants and animals, microbes from air, soil, ocean, and even endophytes have now become abundant sources of novel bioactive compounds. Moreover, they occupy crucial roles in the food, agriculture, and pharmaceutical industries. Microbes produce a large diversity of unusual, often highly complex, natural metabolites with a vast array of bioactivities that have been used to combat and cure various human diseases since ancient times, functioning as antibiotics, anti-tumor agents, anti-hypercholesteremic agents, immunosuppressants, and antiparasitic agents. The number of microbe-derived metabolites today continues to follow a trend of perpetually increasing with the advent of new methods for structural analysis and new molecular biology tools. These metabolites provide important clues in drug discovery and are therefore considered to be the cornerstone of drug development. This Special Issue aims at exchanging ideas, subjects, and discoveries in the field of microbial secondary metabolites with the aspiration of providing excellent opportunities for researchers to offer new perspectives related to the structural characterization of microbial metabolites, through various separation tools, and their corresponding bioactivities, which could expand the existing microbial pool, thus promoting the development of innovative drugs.

Prof. Dr. Sabrin R. Mohamed Ibrahim
Prof. Dr. Gamal Abdallah Mohamed
Prof. Dr. Abdelsattar M. Omar
Guest Editors

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Keywords

isolation and purification
structural characterization
in vitro and in vivo assays
marine microbes
plant endophytes
molecular targets
computational studies
pharmacology mechanisms

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 3129 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization of Antioxidant Activity of Compounds Generated during Ginseng Extract Fermentation Supplemented with Lactobacillus

by Shuiqing Lin, Yuxiao Wu, Qian Huang, Zhiting Liu, Juan Xu, Ruifeng Ji, Natalia V. Slovesnova, Xin He and Lin Zhou

Molecules 2024, 29(6), 1265; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29061265 - 13 Mar 2024

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Abstract

Ginseng holds high medicinal and cosmetic value, with stem and leaf extracts garnering attention for their abundant bioactive ingredients. Meanwhile, fermentation can enhance the effectiveness of cosmetics. The aim of this study was to optimize ginseng fermentation to produce functional cosmetics. Ginseng stem and leaf extracts were fermented with five different strains of lactic acid bacteria. Using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl radical (·OH), and superoxide anion (O₂^·−) scavenging activities as indicators, the fermentation process was optimized via response surface methodology. Finally, validation of the antioxidant activity of the optimized fermentation broth was performed using human skin cells (HaCaT and BJ cells). Based on the antioxidant potency composite comprehensive index, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 1.140 was selected, and the optimized parameters were a fermentation time of 35.50 h, an inoculum size of 2.45%, and a temperature of 28.20 °C. Optimized fermentation boosted antioxidant activity: DPPH scavenging activity increased by 25.00%, ·OH by 94.00%, and O₂^·− by 73.00%. Only the rare ginsenoside Rg₅ showed a substantial rise in content among the 11 ginsenosides examined after fermentation. Furthermore, the flavonoid content and ·OH scavenging activity were significantly negatively correlated (r = −1.00, p < 0.05), while the Rh₁ content and O₂^·− scavenging activity were significantly positively correlated (r = 0.998, p < 0.05). Both the 0.06% (v/v) and 0.25% (v/v) concentrations of the optimized broth significantly promoted cell proliferation, and notable protective effects against oxidative damage were observed in HaCaT cells when the broth was at 0.06%. Collectively, we demonstrated that ginseng fermentation extract effectively eliminates free radicals, preventing and repairing cellular oxidative damage. This study has identified new options for the use of fermented ginseng in functional cosmetics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Bioactive Secondary Metabolites: Extraction, Separation, and Bioactivities)

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9 pages, 1215 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Talaromyces sp. Ethyl Acetate Crude Extract as Potential Mosquitocide to Control Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus

by Junhui Chen, Zhiyong Xu, Yangqing Liu, Feiying Yang, Limei Guan, Jian Yang, Jianghuai Li, Guodong Niu, Jun Li and Liang Jin

Molecules 2023, 28(18), 6642; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28186642 - 15 Sep 2023

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Abstract

Vector control is considered an effective approach to controlling diseases spread by mosquito bites. Entomopathogenic fungi are widely used in agriculture to control insect pests, and fungal metabolites can potentially be developed as effective mosquitocides. In this study, a high-throughput screening method was used to search for potential mosquitocides in the Global Fungal Extract Library (GFEL). We tested the larvicidal activity of 264 fungal ethyl acetate crude extracts against Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus. Nine fungal extracts caused moderate to high mortality rates (>50%), with two fungal extracts (58A7 and 101H12) causing a 100% mortality rate. The lethal concentrations for 50% of the population (LC₅₀) were 44.27 mg/L and 31.90 mg/L, respectively. Fraction 14 had a high mortality rate, with an LC₅₀ value of 12.13 mg/L, and was isolated from 58A7 (Fractions 1–11) and 101H12 (Fractions 12–15). Further analyses showed that Fraction 14 was made up of vermistatin and dihydrovermistatin. In a Cx. p. quinquefasciatus larvicidal bioassay, vermistatin (LC₅₀ = 28.13 mg/L) was more toxic than dihydrovermistatin (LC₅₀ = 83.87 mg/L). Our findings suggested that the active fungal extract 101H12 from Talaromyces sp. and its compound vermistatin could be developed as mosquitocides. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Bioactive Secondary Metabolites: Extraction, Separation, and Bioactivities)

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41 pages, 4340 KiB

Open AccessReview

Bioactive Alkaloids as Secondary Metabolites from Plant Endophytic Aspergillus Genus

by Juntai Zhu, Lixia Song, Shengnan Shen, Wanxin Fu, Yaying Zhu and Li Liu

Molecules 2023, 28(23), 7789; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28237789 - 27 Nov 2023

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Abstract

Alkaloids represent a large family of natural products with diverse structures and bioactivities. These compounds and their derivatives have been widely used in clinics to treat various diseases. The endophytic Aspergillus is a filamentous fungus renowned for its extraordinary ability to produce active natural products of high therapeutic value and economic importance. This review is the first to focus on Aspergillus-derived alkaloids. Through an extensive literature review and data analysis, 263 alkaloids are categorized according to their structural features into those containing cytochalasans, diketopiperazine alkaloids, quinazoline alkaloids, quinoline alkaloids, indole alkaloids, pyrrolidine alkaloids, and others. These metabolites exhibited diverse biological activities, such as antibacterial activity, cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory activity, and α-glucosidase, ACE, and DPPH inhibitory activities. The bioactivity, structural diversity, and occurrence of these alkaloids are reviewed in detail. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Bioactive Secondary Metabolites: Extraction, Separation, and Bioactivities)

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Microbial Bioactive Secondary Metabolites: Extraction, Separation, and Bioactivities

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