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Vanzolini T, Magnani M. Old and new strategies in therapy and diagnosis against fungal infections. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2024; 108:147. [PMID: 38240822 PMCID: PMC10799149 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-023-12884-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
Fungal infections represent a serious global health threat. The new emerging pathogens and the spread of different forms of resistance are now hardly challenging the tools available in therapy and diagnostics. With the commonly used diagnoses, fungal identification is often slow and inaccurate, and, on the other hand, some drugs currently used as treatments are significantly affected by the decrease in susceptibility. Herein, the antifungal arsenal is critically summarized. Besides describing the old approaches and their mechanisms, advantages, and limitations, the focus is dedicated to innovative strategies which are designed, identified, and developed to take advantage of the discrepancies between fungal and host cells. Relevant pathways and their role in survival and virulence are discussed as their suitability as sources of antifungal targets. In a similar way, molecules with antifungal activity are reported as potential agents/precursors of the next generation of antimycotics. Particular attention was devoted to biotechnological entities, to their novelty and reliability, to drug repurposing and restoration, and to combinatorial applications yielding significant improvements in efficacy. KEY POINTS: • New antifungal agents and targets are needed to limit fungal morbidity and mortality. • Therapeutics and diagnostics suffer of delays in innovation and lack of targets. • Biologics, drug repurposing and combinations are the future of antifungal treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tania Vanzolini
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029, Urbino, PU, Italy.
| | - Mauro Magnani
- Department of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, 61029, Urbino, PU, Italy
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Yeon J, Park AR, Nguyen HTT, Gwak H, Kim J, Sang MK, Kim JC. Inhibition of Oomycetes by the Mixture of Maleic Acid and Copper Sulfate. PLANT DISEASE 2022; 106:960-965. [PMID: 34705489 DOI: 10.1094/pdis-07-21-1559-re] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Since the protective activity of the Bordeaux mixture against plant disease caused by oomycetes was discovered, copper compounds have been used for more than a century as an effective plant protection strategy. However, the application of excessive copper can cause adverse effects through long-term heavy metal accumulation in soils. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new strategies to reduce or replace copper in pesticides based on organic and low-input farming systems. Organic acids are eco-friendly. In this study, we tested the antifungal and anti-oomycete activity of maleic acid (MA) and copper sulfate (CS) against 13 plant pathogens. Treatment with a mixture of MA and CS showed strong anti-oomycetes activity against Phytophthora xcambivora, P. capsici, and P. cinnamomi. Moreover, the concentration of CS in the activated mixture of MA and CS was lower than that in the activated CS only, and the mixture showed synergy or partial synergy effects on the anti-oomycete activity. Application of a wettable powder formulation of MA and CS mixture (MCS 30WP; 26.67% MA and 3.33% CS) had excellent protective activity in pot experiments with control values of 73% Phytophthora blight on red pepper, 91% damping-off on cucumber, and 84% Pythium blight on creeping bentgrass, which are similar to those of the CS wettable powder formulation (6.67% CS) containing two times the CS content of MCS 30WP. These observations suggest that the synergistic effect of the MA and CS combination is a sustainable alternative for effective management of destructive oomycete diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jehyeong Yeon
- Institute of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
| | - Ae Ran Park
- Institute of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
| | - Hang Thi Thu Nguyen
- Institute of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
| | - Hanna Gwak
- Institute of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
| | - Jiwon Kim
- Division of Agricultural Microbiology, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea
- Department of Agricultural Biology, College of Agricultural & Life Sciences, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, 54896, Republic of Korea
| | - Mee Kyung Sang
- Division of Agricultural Microbiology, National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea
| | - Jin-Cheol Kim
- Institute of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 61186, Republic of Korea
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Kim S, Park J, Kim D, Choi S, Moon H, Young Shin J, Kim J, Son H. Development of a versatile copper-responsive gene expression system in the plant-pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum. MOLECULAR PLANT PATHOLOGY 2021; 22:1427-1435. [PMID: 34390122 PMCID: PMC8518565 DOI: 10.1111/mpp.13118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Fusarium graminearum is an important plant-pathogenic fungus that causes Fusarium head blight on wheat and barley, and ear rot on maize worldwide. This fungus has been widely used as a model organism to study various biological processes of plant-pathogenic fungi because of its amenability to genetic manipulation and well-established outcross system. Gene deletion and overexpression/constitutive expression of target genes are tools widely used to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying fungal development, virulence, and secondary metabolite production. However, for fine-tuning gene expression and studying essential genes, a conditional gene expression system is necessary that enables repression or induction of gene expression by modifying external conditions. Until now, only a few conditional expression systems have been developed in plant-pathogenic fungi. This study proposes a new and versatile conditional gene expression system in F. graminearum using the promoter of a copper-responsive gene, designated F. graminearum copper-responsive 1 (FCR1). Transcript levels of FCR1 were found to be greatly affected by copper availability conditions. Moreover, the promoter (PFCR1 ), 1 kb upstream of the FCR1 open reading frame, was sufficient to confer copper-dependent gene expression. Replacement of a green fluorescent protein gene and FgENA5 promoter with a PFCR1 promoter clearly showed that PFCR1 could be used for fine-tuning gene expression in this fungus. We also demonstrated the applicability of this conditional gene expression system to an essential gene study by replacing the promoter of FgIRE1, an essential gene of F. graminearum. This enabled the generation of FgIRE1 suppression mutants, which allowed functional characterization of the gene. This study reported the first conditional gene expression system in F. graminearum using both repression and induction. This system would be a convenient way to precisely control gene expression and will be used to determine the biological functions of various genes, including essential ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sieun Kim
- Department of Agricultural BiotechnologySeoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
| | - Jiyeun Park
- Department of Agricultural BiotechnologySeoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
| | - Dohun Kim
- Department of Agricultural BiotechnologySeoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
| | - Soyoung Choi
- Department of Agricultural BiotechnologySeoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
| | - Heeji Moon
- Department of Agricultural BiotechnologySeoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
| | - Ji Young Shin
- Research Institute of Agriculture and Life SciencesSeoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
| | - Jung‐Eun Kim
- Research Institute of Agriculture and Life SciencesSeoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
| | - Hokyoung Son
- Department of Agricultural BiotechnologySeoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
- Research Institute of Agriculture and Life SciencesSeoul National UniversitySeoulRepublic of Korea
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Li W, Shrivastava M, Lu H, Jiang Y. Calcium-calcineurin signaling pathway in Candida albicans: A potential drug target. Microbiol Res 2021; 249:126786. [PMID: 33989979 DOI: 10.1016/j.micres.2021.126786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2021] [Revised: 04/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Increased morbidity and mortality of candidiasis are a notable threat to the immunocompromised patients. At present, the types of drugs available to treat C. albicans infection are relatively limited. Moreover, the emergence of antifungal drug resistance of C. albicans makes the treatment of C. albicans infection more difficult. The calcium-calcineurin signaling pathway plays a crucial role in the survival and pathogenicity of C. albicans and may act as a potential target against C. albicans. In this review, we summarized functions of the calcium-calcineurin signaling pathway in several biological processes, compared the differences of this signaling pathway between C. albicans and humans, and described anti-C. albicans activity of inhibitors of this signaling pathway. We believe that targeting the calcium-calcineurin signaling pathway is a promising strategy to cope with C. albicans infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wanqian Li
- Department of Pharmacology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | | | - Hui Lu
- Department of Pharmacology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
| | - Yuanying Jiang
- Department of Pharmacology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
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Nguyen HTT, Kim JD, Raj V, Hwang IM, Yu NH, Park AR, Choi JS, Lee J, Kim JC. Deciphering the Relationship Between Cycloheximides Structures and Their Different Biological Activities. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:644853. [PMID: 33897655 PMCID: PMC8058199 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.644853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Streptomyces species are the most important sources of antibacterial, antifungal, and phytotoxic metabolites. In this study, cycloheximide (CH) and acetoxycycloheximide (ACH) were isolated from the fermentation broth of Streptomyces sp. JCK-6092. The antifungal and phytotoxic activities of the two compounds (CH and ACH) and a cycloheximide derivative, hydroxycycloheximide (HCH), were compared. CH exhibited the strongest antagonistic activity against all the true fungi tested, followed by ACH and HCH. However, both CH and ACH displayed similar mycelial growth inhibitory activities against several phytopathogenic oomycetes, and both were more active than that of HCH. Disparate to antifungal ability, ACH showed the strongest phytotoxic activity against weeds and crops, followed by HCH and CH. ACH caused chlorophyll content loss, leaf electrolytic leakage, and lipid peroxidation in a dose-dependent manner. Its phytotoxicity was stronger than that of glufosinate-ammonium but weaker than that of paraquat in the in vitro experiments. CH and its derivatives are well-known protein synthesis inhibitors; however, the precise differences between their mechanism of action remain undiscovered. A computational study revealed effects of CHs on the protein synthesis of Pythium ultimum (oomycetes), Magnaporthe oryzae (true fungus), and Capsicum annum (plant) and deciphered the differences in their biological activities on different targets. The binding energies and conformation stabilities of each chemical molecule correlated with their biological activities. Thus, molecular docking study supported the experimental results. This is the first comparative study to suggest the ribosomal protein alteration mechanisms of CHs in plants and fungi and to thus show how the protein inhibitory activities of the different derivatives are altered using molecular docking. The correlation of structures features of CHs in respect to bond formation with desired protein was revealed by density functional theory. Overall collective results suggested that CHs can be used as lead molecules in the development of more potent fungicides and herbicides molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hang Thi Thu Nguyen
- Department of Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Institute of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea
| | - Jae Deok Kim
- Eco-Friendly and New Materials Research Group, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Vinit Raj
- School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, South Korea
| | - In Min Hwang
- Hygienic Safety and Analysis Center, World Institute of Kimchi, Gwangju, South Korea
| | - Nan Hee Yu
- Department of Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Institute of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea
| | - Ae Ran Park
- Department of Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Institute of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea
| | - Jung Seob Choi
- Eco-Friendly and New Materials Research Group, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Jintae Lee
- School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, South Korea
| | - Jin-Cheol Kim
- Department of Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Institute of Environmentally Friendly Agriculture, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea
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Manganyi MC, Ateba CN. Untapped Potentials of Endophytic Fungi: A Review of Novel Bioactive Compounds with Biological Applications. Microorganisms 2020; 8:microorganisms8121934. [PMID: 33291214 PMCID: PMC7762190 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms8121934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2020] [Revised: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Over the last century, endophytic fungi have gained tremendous attention due to their ability to produce novel bioactive compounds exhibiting varied biological properties and are, therefore, utilized for medicinal, pharmaceutical, and agricultural applications. Endophytic fungi reside within the plant tissues without showing any disease symptoms, thus supporting the physiological and ecological attributes of the host plant. Ground breaking lead compounds, such as paclitaxel and penicillin, produced by endophytic fungi have paved the way for exploring novel bioactive compounds for commercial usage. Despite this, limited research has been conducted in this valuable and unique niche area. These bioactive compounds belong to various structural groups, including alkaloids, peptides, steroids, terpenoids, phenols, quinones, phenols, and flavonoids. The current review focuses on the significance of endophytic fungi in producing novel bioactive compounds possessing a variety of biological properties that include antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antiprotozoal, antiparasitic, antioxidant, immunosuppressant, and anticancer functions. Taking into consideration the portal of this publication, special emphasis is placed on the antimicrobial and antiviral activities of metabolites produced by endophytes against human pathogens. It also highlights the importance of utilization of these compounds as potential treatment agents for serious life-threatening infectious diseases. This is supported by the fact that several findings have indicated that these bioactive compounds may significantly contribute towards the fight against resistant human and plant pathogens, thus motivating the need enhance the search for new, more efficacious and cost-effective antimicrobial drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madira Coutlyne Manganyi
- Department of Microbiology, North West University Mafikeng Campus, Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +27-18-389-2134
| | - Collins Njie Ateba
- Food Security and Safety Niche Area, Faculty of Agriculture, Science and Technology, North West University, Mmabatho, Mafikeng 2735, South Africa;
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