Abstract
The kingdom of fungi comprises a large and highly diverse group of organisms that thrive in diverse natural environments. One factor to successfully confront challenges in their natural habitats is the capability to synthesize defensive secondary metabolites. The genetic potential for the production of secondary metabolites in fungi is high and numerous potential secondary metabolite gene clusters have been identified in sequenced fungal genomes. Their production may well be regulated by specific ecological conditions, such as the presence of microbial competitors, symbionts or predators. Here we exemplarily summarize our current knowledge on identified secondary metabolites of the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus and their defensive function against (microbial) predators.
Highlights
To thrive in their natural habitats all organisms from bacteria and fungi to plants and animals need access to sufficient nutritional sources and have to defend themselves against both, competitors and predators (Figure 1)
As a medically relevant fungal pathogen A. fumigatus is the subject of much research and since sequencing of its genome in 2005 its potential for the production of secondary metabolites was scrutinized frequently [7,43,175]
In recent years many of its biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) could be matched with either long known or newly discovered bioactive compounds and while the bioactive potential and the ecological role of many well studied metabolites like DHN-melanin or gliotoxin is well known, newer metabolites often cannot be associated with a biological function
Summary
To thrive in their natural habitats all organisms from bacteria and fungi to plants and animals need access to sufficient nutritional sources and have to defend themselves against both, competitors and predators (Figure 1). Fungi are ubiquitous, living a mostly saprophytic, parasitic or symbiotic lifestyle in various habitats including soil, water, other organisms and even salt-flats and arctic glaciers [1,2]. As fungi are not able to physically leave their habitats they must rely on mechanical barriers, physiological adaptations and chemical defence mechanisms to optimize their living conditions and resist competitors, parasites and predators [3,4,5]. These bioactive compounds are often considered as secondary metabolites (SM) which are involved in communication, symbiotic interactions, pathogenicity or chemical defence, e.g., by toxin production [6].
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