Integration of Untargeted Metabolomics with Transcriptomics Provides Insights into Beauvericin Biosynthesis in Cordyceps chanhua under H2O2-Induced Oxidative Stress

Metabolites analysis and new bioactive compounds from the medicine food homology product of Cordyceps chanhua on artificial media

Cordyceps chanhua on artificial media has been approved as a medicine food homology product. However, the metabolites have not been extensively studied. HPLC-HRMS analysis showed that there were 11 main metabolites in the EtOAc extract including 4 probable unknown compounds. Fumosoroseain A with anti-aging effects is the most abundant known compound and was identified from C. chanhua for the first time. The second abundant compound is N6-(2-Hydroxyethyl) adenosine, a typical metabolite of C. chanhua. All the known compounds have consistent health function with that of the fungus. HRMS, 1D and 2D NMR analyses revealed that compounds 2, 3, and 4 are new nucleosides named as chanhuanosides A, B, and C. Compound 1 is the known compound cordyrrole B isolated from C. chanhua for the first time whose structure is firstly confirmed by single crystal X-ray analysis. Bioactivity analysis revealed that 1-4 significantly inhibited pancreatic lipase activity, and strongly promoted the proliferation of RAW264.7 and 293T cells, suggesting that they might have ant-obesity, immunoregulation, and renal protection functions. Structure-bioactivity analysis revealed that the esterification on ribose can increase their bioactivity. Present metabolites study suggests that C. chanhua cultured on the artificial medium is a promising health food.

Genomic Comparison of Two Species of Samsoniella with Other Genera in the Family Cordycipitaceae

Whole genomes of Samsoniella hepiali ICMM 82-2 and S. yunnanensis YFCC 1527 were sequenced and annotated, as well as compared with whole genome sequences of other species in the family Cordycipitaceae. S. hepiali ICMM 82-2, S. hepiali FENG and S. yunnanensis YFCC 1527 had 54, 57 and 58 putative secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters, respectively. S. hepiali had one unique domain and S. yunnanensis YFCC 1527 six. Both S. hepiali and S. yunnanensis YFCC 1527 had curvupallide-B, fumosorinone and fujikurin putative biosynthetic gene clusters. C. javanica had biosynthetic gene clusters for fumonisin. The 14 genomes had common domains, namely A-P-C-P-C and KS-AT-DH-ER-KR-ACP. The A-P-C-P-C domain may be involved in the biosynthesis of dimethylcoprogen. The maximum likelihood and the Bayesian inference trees of KS-AT-DH-ER-KR-ACP were highly consistent with the multigene phylogenetic tree for the 13 species of Cordycipitaceae. This study facilitates the discovery of novel biologically active SMs from Cordycipitaceae using heterologous expression and gene knockdown methods.

Genomic Comparative Analysis of Cordyceps pseudotenuipes with Other Species from Cordyceps

The whole genome of Cordyceps pseudotenuipes was sequenced, annotated, and compared with three related species to characterize the genome. The antibiotics and Secondary Metabolites Analysis Shell (antiSMASH) and local BLAST analysis were used to explore the secondary metabolites (SMs) and biosynthesis gene clusters (BGCs) of the genus Cordyceps. The genome-wide basic characteristics of C. pseudotenuipes, C. tenuipes, C. cicadae, and C. militaris revealed unequal genome size, with C. cicadae as the largest (34.11 Mb), followed by C. militaris (32.27 Mb). However, the total gene lengths of C. pseudotenuipes and C. tenuipes were similar (30.1 Mb and 30.06 Mb). The GC contents of C. pseudotenuipes, C. tenuipes, C. cicadae, and C. militaris genomes differed slightly (51.40% to 54.11%). AntiSMASH and local BLAST analysis showed that C. pseudotenuipes, C. tenuipes, C. cicadae, and C. militaris had 31, 28, 31, and 29 putative SM BGCs, respectively. The SM BGCs contained different quantities of polyketide synthetase (PKS), nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS), terpene, hybrid PKS + NRPS, and hybrid NRPS + Other. Moreover, C. pseudotenuipes, C. tenuipes, C. cicadae, and C. militaris had BGCs for the synthesis of dimethylcoprogen. C. pseudotenuipes, C. tenuipes, and C. cicadae had BGCs for the synthesis of leucinostatin A/B, neosartorin, dimethylcoprogen, wortmanamide A/B, and beauvericin. In addition, the SM BGCs unique to C. pseudotenuipes were clavaric acid, communesin, and deoxynivalenol. Synteny analysis indicated that the scaffolds where the SM BGC was located were divided into more than 70 collinear blocks, and there might be rearrangements. Altogether, these findings improved our understanding of the molecular biology of the genus Cordyceps and will facilitate the discovery of new biologically active SMs from the genus Cordyceps using heterologous expression and gene knockdown methods.

Metabolome and Transcriptome Profiling Reveal That Four Terpenoid Hormones Dominate the Growth and Development of Sanghuangporus baumii

Sanghuangporus baumii is a traditional medicinal fungus that produces pharmacological terpenoids, but natural resources are insufficient for applications, and its growth and development mechanisms are poorly understood. Combining metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses, we found four terpenoid hormones and a central gene, isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase (IDI), involved in growth and development. Additionally, an exogenous hormone test was used to further confirm the importance of the four terpenoid hormones. Finally, hormone content determination and qRT−PCR were performed to explore the growth and development mechanism; we found thatcis-zeatin (CZ) plays a major role in the mycelia stage, trans-zeatin (TZ) and gibberellin A4 (GA4) are important in the primordia stage, GA4 is crucial for the fruiting bodies stage, and abscisic acid (ABA) may be a marker of maturity. The IDI gene was also found to affectterpenoid hormone content by regulating the relative gene transcript levels, thereby controlling morphological changes in S. baumii. Our results revealthe growth and development mechanisms of S. baumii and may promote the breeding and utilisation of high-quality varieties.