Abstract
BackgroundMarine fungi are a diverse group of opportunistic and obligate organisms isolated from marine environments. These fungi are now often included in screens for novel metabolites, while less attention has been given to their production of hydrolytic enzymes. Most enzymes derived from marine microorganisms have been obtained from marine bacteria. The enzymes produced by marine fungi may have different properties than those derived from bacteria or from terrestrial fungi. Here we assess the growth of six filamentous marine fungi on a wide range of polymeric substrates as an indication of their general capacity to produce hydrolytic enzymes.ResultsCalcarisporium sp. KF525, Tritirachium sp. LF562, Bartalinia robillardoides LF550, Penicillium pinophilum LF458, Scopulariopsis brevicaulis LF580 and Pestalotiopsis sp. KF079 all grew on both casein and gelatin as N-source, indicating secretion of proteases. All species also grew on starch, laminarin, xylan, pectin and oil, indicating production of amylases, glucanases, xylanases, pectinases and lipases. Growth on cellulose occurred but was weaker than on xylan. All strains also grew to some extent on sulphated arabinogalactan, although only LF562 could utilise arabinose. Four strains grew on the sulphated ulvans, whereas only KF525 grew on agar or carrageenan. KF525 and LF562 showed limited growth on alginate. Although fucose was used as carbon source by several species, fucoidan did not support biomass production.ConclusionsMarine fungi could be excellent sources of a wide range of hydrolytic enzymes, including those able to hydrolyse various seaweed polymers. Although the native hosts may secrete only small amounts of these enzymes, the genes may provide a rich source of novel enzymes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12896-016-0233-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Marine fungi are a diverse group of opportunistic and obligate organisms isolated from marine environments [1, 2]
To avoid the decrease in pH associated with uptake of ammonium from the medium, growth on urea was assessed, but P. pinophilum LF458 was unable to use it as a nitrogen source and B. robillardoides LF550 grew poorly, so ammonium was used as the nitrogen source for comparing growth on the various carbon substrates
Growth was assessed as colony radial growth rate (Kr) on the various
Summary
Marine fungi are a diverse group of opportunistic and obligate organisms isolated from marine environments These fungi are often included in screens for novel metabolites, while less attention has been given to their production of hydrolytic enzymes. The enzymes produced by marine fungi may have different properties than those derived from bacteria or from terrestrial fungi. Marine fungi are a diverse group of opportunistic and obligate organisms isolated from marine environments [1, 2]. In recent years interest in the secondary metabolites and bio-active compounds produced by some of these fungi has grown [2, 3] and they are increasingly included in ecological studies of marine environments [1, 2, 4]. Some of the enzymes identified have unique properties of cold [9], salt [10], alkali [11] or acid [12] tolerance, which may be of commercial interest
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