First report of Epicoccum nigrum causing brown leaf spot of sweet cherry (Prunus avium) in China

Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) has become an important economic fruit in China, mainly produced in Shandong Province. In recent years, the planting area of Aba Prefecture in Sichuan Province has increased. In June 2022, sweet cherry brown leaf spot was found in a cherry plantation (100ha) in Wenchuan County (30°54'50.21″N, 103°24'49.10″E), with an incidence of 50 - 70%. The symptoms appeared as brown circular spots on the leaf, gradually expanding until multiple lesions coalesced to form large irregular brown spots; eventually entire leaves were killed. To isolate the causal pathogens, 10 diseased trees were randomly selected from an orchard, one diseased leaf was taken from each tree, and samples (4×4 mm2) were cut from the border between diseased and healthy tissues of 10 diseased leaves, surface sterilized with 75% ethanol for 30 sec, washed three times with sterilized water, dried on sterilized filter paper and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA). After 5d at 25℃, five morphologically similar colonies were obtained, colony appears yellow fluffy and released a large amount of red-orangepigment. Microscopy revealed circular to ovoid, verrucose, and multicellular conidia measuring 20×25 μm diameter (n = 30) were produced on the mycelia. The morphological characteristics were consistent with the description of Epicoccum nigrum (Lima et al 2011). To further identify the strains, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), β-tubulin, and RNA polymerase second largest subunit (RPB2) gene regions were amplified with ITS1/ITS4 , Bt2a/Bt2b, and 5f2/7cr (White et al. 1990; Glass and Donaldson 1995; Sung et al. 2007), respectively. BLAST analysis revealed that the ITS, β-tubulin, and RPB2 sequences were 99.2%, 100% and 99.6% homologous, with those of E. nigrum (KU204750.1, OL782123.1, and MW602294.1), respectively. The sequences of the five isolates were identical; and those of representative strain TY3 were deposited in GenBank (ITS, OP410968; β-tubulin, OR502448; RPB2, OP484927). Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses were performed for the combined data set with ITS , β-tubulin and RPB2 using MEGA6 under the Tamura-Nei model (Tamura et al. 1993). Isolate TY3 clustered with E. nigrum type strain CBS 505.85. The pathogenicity of TY3 was tested on 10 sweet cherry trees aged 3 years (there were about 50 leaves per plant). Five plants were sprayed with 50 mL of spore suspension (1×105 spores/mL), while the controls (Five plants) were sprayed with 50 mL of sterile water. All plants were in closed plastic bags to maintain high humidity, placed in a greenhouse, and incubated at 25℃with a 12-h photoperiod. Twelve days after inoculation, 35% of the inoculated leaves showed lesions; that were consistent with those observed in the field, and the control group was asymptomatic. To confirm Koch´s postulates, two isolates were taken from the margins of leaf lesions and both were confirmed to be E. nigrum based on morphological observations and molecular identification using ITS β-tubulin, and RPB2 sequences. This is the first report of brown leaf spot caused by E. nigrum on P. avium in China. This discovery needs to be considered in developing and implementing disease management programs in sweet cherry production.

Biological production of epicoccamide-aglycone and its cytotoxicity

Epicoccamide (EPC) is an O-d-mannosylated acyltetramic acid of Epicoccum origin and is a bolaamphiphilic fungal polyketide. EPC displays weak toxicity against Staphylococcus aureus and HeLa cell lines. The EPC biosynthetic gene cluster was previously identified in Epicoccum nigrum and knockout of the glycosyltransferase gene (epcB) abolished EPC production. EPC-aglycone was expected in the epcB knockout but was not found. This study demonstrates that extractive culture using the hydrophobic resin Diaion HP-20 resulted in the production of EPC-aglycone, which was isolated using chromatographic separation techniques, and its structural identity was substantiated by chemical analyses. EPC-aglycone displayed strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, with the minimal inhibitory concentration of 1 μg/mL (64 μg/mL for EPC). EPC-aglycone displayed higher levels of growth inhibition against HeLa cell line (the half inhibitory concentration, 19 μM) and WI-38 (15 μM) cell line than EPC (76 μM and 38 μM vs. HeLa and WI-38, respectively). The dose-response curve fit of growth inhibition indicated that EPC-aglycone adopted a shallow curve (low slope factor), which was different from that of EPC, suggesting that their cellular targets are distinct from each other. This study substantiates that the d-mannose attachment is the final step in EPC biosynthesis, showcasing a glycosylation-mediated modulation of the biological activity of simple acyltetramic acid. This study also highlights the usefulness of extractive cultures in mining cryptic microbial natural products.

Cadavers found outdoor in whom fungal growth was observed on the body surface: Consideration of the role of mycology in forensic medicine

In forensic case work, fungal growth is occasionally observed on decomposed cadavers, however, the isolation of these organisms is not always carried out routinely. The usefulness of investigating fungi isolated from corpses in forensic settings, has been reported, such as providing trace evidence, estimating the time since death, and ascertaining the time of deposition. A 32-year-old male missing for 4 months, was found in a car in a forest far from his home and had died from blood loss, having been stabbed with a kitchen knife in the left side of his chest. Whitish or white greenish colonies ranging 5 cm to 8 cm in size were observed over his whole body. Penicillium commune and Cladosporium cladosporioides were isolated from the colonies. A 49-year-old male missing for one month, and was found dead at 500 m elevation in the mountains. An autopsy was conducted, but the cause of death could not be determined. Dark greenish or whitish colonies were found on his face and neck, and Epicoccum nigrum, Mucor sp.. Cladosporium sp., and Pestalotiopsis sp. were isolated. Penicillium sp. and Cladosporium sp. are major indoor fungi, and Epicoccum sp. and Pestalotiopsis sp. are plant pathogens found in outdoor environments. There was no discrepancy between the police statement and findings of the corpse such as place discovered, types of isolated fungi, and estimated time since death. Identifying fungi on cadavers may aid in forensic casework, and further studies are needed to develop for the use of fungi as a forensic tool.

Improvement of beauvericin production by Fusarium oxysporum AB2 under solid-state fermentation using an optimised liquid medium and co-cultures

The production of beauvericin (BEA) by Fusarium oxysporum AB2 in liquid medium (SmF) was compared to that on solid medium (SSF) on inert support (polyurethane foam or PUF), using a previously optimised medium. The analysis included two different concentrations of the medium (1 × and 3 ×). Under SSF, the production of BEA (22.8 mg·L^-1) was higher relative to SmF (0.8 mg·L^-1). The production increased proportionally in the concentrated medium (3 ×) (65.3 mg·L^-1); using the concentrated medium in SmF, the production of BEA was completely inhibited, although more biomass was produced. The peak of BEA production was reached on day 7 and remained stable until day 11; sustained production after several days has not been achieved in similar reports. The presence of BEA was corroborated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry. The BEA production profile is shown performing mixed cultures of Fusarium oxysporum AB2 and Epicoccum nigrum TORT using the same system, increasing the production of BEA up to 84.6 mg·L^-1. We propose SSF using polyurethane foam (PUF) as a solid support as a new culture system for obtaining secondary metabolites such as BEA.

Obstructive hydrocephalus and intracerebral mass secondary to Epicoccum nigrum

Here we report a case of a 14-week-old girl with a history of intrauterine drug exposure and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy secondary to cardiac arrest requiring prolonged resuscitation at birth presented with irritability and a bulging anterior fontanelle. After neurosurgical resection, pathologic examination showed fungal hyphae, and Epicoccum nigrum was detected by fungal PCR and sequencing. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a central nervous system infection due to Epicoccum nigrum.

First Report of Epicoccum nigrum Causing Brown Leaf Spot in Tea in Guizhou Province, China

Brown leaf spots were observed on tea [Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze] in Sinan County (27.74 °N, 108.35 °E) and Kaiyang County (27.96 °N, 107.34 °E), Guizhou Province, China, from 2018 to 2020. For the leaf spots with the typical symptoms, the disease incidence was estimated to range between 56% and 61%, respectively. The disease severity was estimated to range from 39 to 43 across 12 tea plantations, respectively. The disease initially occurred at the margins of leaf tips, and the lesions expanded gradually, being dark brown and irregularly shaped and became necrotic. To identify the causal organism, two leaves from each of 15 tea twigs, one or two per plantation, were detached from 8- or 10-year-old tea plants on each of 12 plantations. Samples taken from the lesion margins were sterilized with 75% ethanol followed by 0.5% NaOCl, placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and then incubated at 25oC in darkness for 5 days (Wang et al. 2020). For each sample, hyphal tips from the margin of a growing colony were successively transferred to fresh PDA, and pure cultures were obtained. Three representative strains were grown on PDA, malt extract agar (MEA), and oatmeal agar (OA) plates. The colonies had smooth margins and abundant mycelia on all three media, with the colony colors being from gray to light purple on PDA, white on MEA, and purplish-red on OA at 5 days post-inoculation. At 20 days post-inoculation on MEA, stromata began to gradually form, which were droplet-like, 100 to 2,000 μm in diameter, and semi-immersed on the medium's surface. Black sporodochia were produced on the surfaces of stromata. Conidiophores were aggregated in sporodochia, densely compacted, and dark brown. Conidia were globose or pyriform, dark, multicellular, and measured 22.95 ± 3.59 × 19.82 ± 3.13 μm (n = 50) in diameter. The morphological characteristics of the mycelia and reproductive structures of the strains were identical to those of Epicoccum nigrum. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA, and the partial 28S large subunit rDNA (LSU), RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2), and beta-tubulin (TUB) genes of these strains were amplified using the primers V9G/ITS4 (De Hoog and Gerrits van den Ende 1998; White et al. 1990), LR0R/LR5 (Rehner and Samuels 1994), RPB2-5F2/fRPB2-7cR (Sung et al. 2007), and TUB2Fd/TUB4Rd (Woudenberg et al. 2009), respectively, and deposited in GenBank (accession no. MW646378, MW291537, MW602293, and MW602295 for ITS, LSU, RBP2, and TUB, respectively). A maximum parsimony phylogenetic analysis indicated that the representative strains clustered with E. nigrum CBS 173.73 (Chen et al. 2017). Pathogenicity tests were performed on 5-year-old potted tea and on 10-year-old C. sinensis cv. Fuding-dabaicha in the field. Mycelial plugs (6-mm diam.) and a conidial suspension (106 conidial/mL) were applied on punctured leaves using a sterile needle and non-punctured leaves. Inoculation with only a PDA plug or sterile water served as controls. Brown spots appeared on the wounded sites of tea leaves at 2 days post-inoculation. No symptoms were observed on the non-wounded leaves or wounded leaves inoculated with PDA plugs lacking mycelia. The re-isolated pathogen from diseased plants was identical to the purified strain ACCC39731 used for inoculation, with re-isolation frequency being 85.0%. To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. nigrum causing leaf spot on tea plants in China, and our findings will be useful for its management and further research.

Furobenzotropolones A, B and 3-Hydroxyepicoccone B with Antioxidative Activity from Mangrove Endophytic Fungus Epicoccum nigrum MLY-3

Three new metabolites, furobenzotropolones A, B (1–2) with unusual benzene and dihydrofuran moieties and 3-hydroxyepicoccone B (3), together with seven known compounds (4–10) were obtained from the endophytic fungus Epicoccum nigrum MLY-3 isolated from the fresh leaf of mangrove plant Bruguiear gymnorrhiza collected from Zhuhai. Their structures were assigned by the analysis of UV, IR, NMR, and mass spectroscopic data. Compound 1 was further confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiment using Cu Kα radiation. In antioxidant activities in vitro, compounds 2, 3, 5, and 8 showed promising DPPH· scavenging activity with IC₅₀ values ranging from 14.7 to 29.3 µM. Compounds 2, 3, 5, 7, and 8 exhibited promising potent activity in scavenging ABTS· with IC₅₀ values in the range of 18–29.2 µM, which was stronger than that of the positive control ascorbic acid (IC₅₀ = 33.6 ± 0.8 µM).

Plant-Fungal Interactions: A Case Study of Epicoccoum nigrum Link

Epicoccum nigrum Link is a cosmopolitan species, and it has been described as both an in vitro and in vivo antagonist of many fungal pathogens of plants. However, there are no clear reports about the interactions between E. nigrum and various plant species, and about the effects of culture filtrates produced by this fungus on plants. Therefore, we assessed the interactions between E. nigrum and different plant species, such as sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. ssp. vulgaris), spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), and winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Additionally, we evaluated the effect of E. nigrum culture filtrates on garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.). Our study showed that the E. nigrum strains varied in terms of the color of excreted culture filtrates and showed different interactions with garden cress. Overall, fungal strains only affected adversely the sprout length in a significant way and, partially, the growth of the tested plant. In addition, we confirmed the suitability of the garden cress as a test plant in in vitro toxicological tests. Most strains of E. nigrum (61.1%) secreted enzymes expected to participate mainly in the later stages of the infection (amylases and proteases) and not those expected to operate in the early phases of host penetration (cellulases and pectinases) that were secreted by 33.3% of fungal strains. The group of pectinolytic enzymes represented the catalysts with the highest activity. Host specialization tests showed that E. nigrum was mainly re-isolated from the plant surface and the number of infected seedlings as well as the disease index depended on a studied plant species, with sugar beet and red clover being most sensitive to infection. In turn, the lowest value of the disease index caused by E. nigrum strains was recorded for spring wheat and winter oilseed rape. Overall, statistically significant differences in the growth of plant seedlings during the host specialization test were noted only for sugar beet and red clover seedlings. The seedlings of plants in the control group (without fungal inoculum) exhibited an increased length compared to those treated with E. nigrum inoculum. Our studies also showed that E. nigrum is probably a facultative saprotroph of plants and it may winter on red clover, which is presumably its main reservoirs, among the species considered.

Production of the anticancer drug taxol by the endophytic fungus Epicoccum nigrum TXB502: enhanced production by gamma irradiation mutagenesis and immobilization technique

Taxol, a phyto-extracted diterpenoid, is the most commercially needed drug in cancer chemotherapy. In spite of the microbial production of taxol being successful and prospective, the reported yields are still not sufficient for large-scale production. Thus, the discovery of new taxol-producing microbial strains and production enhancement methodologies such as process optimization, strain improvement, and immobilization technique are the main objectives. In this paper, a taxol-producing start strain Epicoccum nigrum TXB502 (initial yield 61.35 μg L^-1) was isolated from Taxus baccata and identified by morphological and molecular tools. The optimum cultivation and nutritional conditions were assessed by testing one parameter at a time approach that resulted in 88.59% significant production increase. In addition, a stable mutant with improved productivity (40.07% yield increase in comparison with the parent strain) was successfully developed after gamma irradiation mutagenesis of the start strain. The taxol titer was further improved via testing different immobilization carriers for both spores and mycelia of this mutant. Over taxol production was achieved using alginate-immobilized mycelia with the feasibility of conducting six successive production cycles in a semi-continuous form. The final total concentration reached 8187.77 μg taxol 6 L^-1 which represents approximately 22-fold increase, as compared to the initial titer of the start strain. These findings can pave the way for the prospective industrial manufacturing of taxol, as the achieved taxol production in this study is the highest reported by academic laboratories for microbial cultures. KEY POINTS: • Discovery of a new taxol-producing endophytic fungus E. nigrum TXB502 strain. • Taxol yield was successfully improved via bioprocess optimization and strain mutagenesis. • Alginate-immobilized mycelia were efficient for a semi-continuous production of taxol. • The final total concentration of taxol showed approximately 22-fold increase as compared to the initial titer.

Azacoccones F-H, new flavipin-derived alkaloids from an endophytic fungus Epicoccum nigrum MK214079

Three new flavipin-derived alkaloids, azacoccones F-H (1-3), along with six known compounds (4-9) were isolated from the endophytic fungus Epicoccum nigrum MK214079 associated with leaves of Salix sp. The structures of the new compounds were established by analysis of their 1D/2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (HRESIMS) data. The absolute configuration of azacoccones F-H (1-3) was determined by comparison of experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data with reported ones and biogenetic considerations. Epicocconigrone A (4), epipyrone A (5), and epicoccolide B (6) exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging from 25 to 50 μM. Furthermore, epipyrone A (5) and epicoccamide A (7) displayed mild antifungal activity against Ustilago maydis AB33 with MIC values of 1.6 and 1.8 mM, respectively. Epicorazine A (8) showed pronounced cytotoxicity against the L5178Y mouse lymphoma cell line with an IC₅₀ value of 1.3 μM.

New Antibacterial Thiodiketopiperazines from the Deep Sea Sediment-Derived Fungus Epicoccum nigrum SD-388

Two new antibacterial thiodiketopiperazine derivatives (TDKPs), 7-dehydroxyepicoccin H and 7-hydroxyeutypellazine F, along with seven known TDKP analogs, were isolated and identified from Epicoccum nigrum SD-388, a deep-sea-sediment-derived fungus. The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis. The absolute configuration of 7-dehydroxyepicoccin H was established by X-ray crystallographic analysis, while 7-hydroxyeutypellazine F was determined by ECD experiment and TDDFT-ECD calculation. The antibacterial activities against human and aquatic pathogens were evaluated. 7-Dehydroxyepicoccin H and 7-hydroxyeutypellazine F displayed inhibitory activities against aquatic pathogens Vibrio vulnificus, V. alginolyticus, and Edwardsiella tarda, with MIC values ranging from 4.0 to 8.0 μg/mL.

Cytotoxic Thiodiketopiperazine Derivatives from the Deep Sea-Derived Fungus Epicoccum nigrum SD-388

Four new thiodiketopiperazine alkaloids, namely, 5’-hydroxy-6’-ene-epicoccin G (1), 7-methoxy-7’-hydroxyepicoccin G (2), 8’-acetoxyepicoccin D (3), and 7’-demethoxyrostratin C (4), as well as a pair of new enantiomeric diketopiperazines, (±)-5-hydroxydiphenylalazine A (5), along with five known analogues (6–10), were isolated and identified from the culture extract of Epicoccum nigrum SD-388, a fungus obtained from deep-sea sediments (−4500 m). Their structures were established on the basis of detailed interpretation of the NMR spectroscopic and mass spectrometric data. X-ray crystallographic analysis confirmed the structures and established the absolute configurations of compounds 1–3, while the absolute configurations for compounds 4 and 5 were determined by ECD calculations. Compounds 4 and 10 showed potent activity against Huh7.5 liver tumor cells, which were comparable to that of the positive control, sorafenib, and the disulfide bridge at C-2/C-2’ is likely essential for the activity.

[Secondary metabolites from Epicoccum nigrum 14one,an endophytic fungus isolated from plant Leptogium masiaticum]

Phytochemical investigation of the culture of Epicoccum nigrum,an endolichenic fungus inhabiting Leptogium masiaticum,led to the isolation of 11 compounds. Based on NMR spectroscopy and HRESIMS data,their structures were determined as one alkaloid fusaricide( 1),and seven benzofuran derivatives including epicoccone( 2),4,6-dihydroxy-5-methoxy-7-methyl-1,3-dihydro isobenzofuran( 3),5-methyl-epicoccone B( 4),3,6,7-trihydroxy-5-methoxy-4-methylisobenzo furan-1( 3 H)-one( 5),3-methoxyepicoccone B( 6),2,3,4-trihydroxy-6-( hydroxymethyl)-5-methylbenzyl-alcohol( 7),and isoochracinic acid( 8),together with three epicoccolide analogs epicocconigrones A( 9),epicoccolide B( 10),and epicocconigrones B( 11). Compounds 1,9 and 10 showed potent microorganism inhibitory effects. These results indicated the potential perspective of this endophytic fungus as an eco-friendly biocide.

A novel source of the cardiac glycoside digoxin from the endophytic fungus Epicoccum nigrum: isolation, characterization, production enhancement by gamma irradiation mutagenesis and anticancer activity evaluation

AIMS

Different endophytic fungi were isolated and screened for their digoxin-producing ability. Strain improvement and different culture conditions were studied for more effective production of digoxin.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Among the isolated fungi, an isolate produced digoxin in a concentration of 2·07 mg l^-1 . The digoxin-producing fungal isolate was identified as Epicoccum nigrum Link according to the morphological features and phylogenetic analyses. The potentiality of the fungal strain for production enhancement of digoxin was performed by gamma radiation mutagenesis. Gamma irradiation dose of 1000 Gy intensified the digoxin yield by five-fold. Using this dose, a stable mutant strain with improved digoxin productivity was isolated and the stability for digoxin production was followed up across four successive generations. In the effort to increase digoxin magnitude, selection of the proper cultivation medium, addition of some elicitors to the most proper medium and several physical fermentation conditions were tested. Fermentation process carried out in malt extract autolysate medium (pH 6·5) supplemented by methyl jasmonate and inoculated with 2 ml of 6-day-old culture and incubated at 25°C for 10 days stimulated the highest production of digoxin to attain 50·14 mg l^-1 . Moreover, cytotoxicity of digoxin separated from the fungal culture was tested against five different cancer cell lines. Based on the MTT assay, digoxin inhibited the proliferation of the five different cancer cell lines and the recorded 50% inhibitory concentration ranged from 10·76 to 35·14 μg ml^-1 .

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first report on the production and enhancement of digoxin using fungal fermentation as a new and alternate source with high productivity.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

These findings offer new and alternate sources with excellent biotechnological potential for digoxin production by fungal fermentation. Moreover, digoxin proved to be a promising anticancer agent whose anticancer potential should be assessed in prospective cancer therapy.

Epicoccum nigrum-induced respiratory infection in a wild Eurasian scops owl (Otus scops)

A wild adult Eurasian scops owl (Otus scops), which was unable to fly, was rescued. Physical examination revealed a sticky exudate around the glottis. Heterophilic leukocytosis was identified through complete blood count, and radiography revealed a marked elevated density of posterior air sacs and inner cavities in both sides of the humerus and femur. Fungal cultures of samples taken from the owl suggested a respiratory fungal infection. Through molecular typing, the fungus was identified as Epicoccum nigrum. The owl was treated with oral itraconazole and broad-spectrum antibiotics. After one month, the inner cavities of pneumatic bones were slightly distinguishable by radiography and the owl started to fly well. Two months later, the air sac and all pneumatic bones displayed normal appearance.

Dithiodiketopiperazine derivatives from endophytic fungi Trichoderma harzianum and Epicoccum nigrum

A new epidithiodiketopiperazine (ETP), pretrichodermamide G (1), along with three known (epi)dithiodiketopiparazines (2-4) were isolated from cultures of Trichoderma harzianum and Epicoccum nigrum, endophytic fungi associated with medicinal plants Zingiber officinale and Salix sp., respectively. The structure of the new compound (1) was established on the basis of spectroscopic data, including 1D/2D NMR and HRESIMS. The isolated compounds were investigated for their antifungal, antibacterial and cytotoxic potential against a panel of microorganisms and cell lines. Pretrichodermamide A (2) displayed antimicrobial activity towards the plant pathogenic fungus Ustilago maydis and the human pathogenic bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis with MIC values of 1 mg/mL (2 mM) and 25 µg/mL (50 µM), respectively. Meanwhile, epicorazine A (3) exhibited strong to moderate cytotoxicity against L5178Y, Ramos, and Jurkat J16 cell lines with IC₅₀ values ranging from 1.3 to 28 µM. Further mechanistic studies indicated that 3 induces apoptotic cell death.

Isolation of anticancer and antimicrobial metabolites from Epicoccum nigrum; endophyte of Ferula sumbul

Owing to the importance of endophytes, current research was aimed to purify the secondary metabolites from targeted source. Ferula sumbul, a lipophilic extract of the endophyte was prepared in 10% methanol and partitioned with ethyl acetate and bioassay guided isolation was carried using standard protocols against bacterial, fungal and cancer cells. The active fractions consisted of three new metabolites (2-methyl-3-nonyl prodiginine, Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, and a meroterpenoid, Preaustinoid A). Their structures were confirmed with LCMS/MS. The purified metabolites showed valuable results against tested activities which concluded that these compounds have great potential and these may be applicable to textile (dyeing), pharmaceutical (drug, infectious agents) and food (preservatives) industries. This study reveals the potential of E. nigrum as an important source of bioactive compounds including 2-methyl-3-nonyl prodiginine, Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, and Preaustinoid A. This is first report of isolation of prodiginines as well as meroterpenoid and Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate from Epicoccum nigrum.

Epicoccum nigrum and Cladosporium sp. for the treatment of oily effluent in an air-lift reactor

The metalworking industry is responsible for one of the most complex and difficult to handle oily effluents. These effluents consist of cutting fluids, which provide refrigeration and purification of metallic pieces in the machining system. When these effluents are biologically treated, is important to do this with autochthonous microorganisms; the use of these microorganisms (bioaugmentation) tends to be more efficient because they are already adapted to the existing pollutants. For this purpose, this study aimed to use two indigenous microorganisms, Epicoccum nigrum and Cladosporium sp. for metalworking effluent treatment using an air-lift reactor; the fungus Aspergillus niger (laboratory strain) was used as a reference microorganism. The original effluent characterization presented considerable pollutant potential. The color of the effluent was 1495 mg Pt/L, and it contained 59 mg/L H2O2, 53 mg/L total phenols, 2.5 mgO2/L dissolved oxygen (DO), and 887 mg/L oil and grease. The COD was 9147 mgO2/L and the chronic toxicity factor was 1667. Following biotreatment, the fungus Epicoccum nigrum was found to be the most efficient in reducing (effective reduction) the majority of the parameters (26% COD, 12% H2O2, 59% total phenols, and 40% oil and grease), while Cladosporium sp. was more efficient in color reduction (77%).