Review on Fungi of Genus Penicillium As a Producers of Biologically Active Polyketides

Mohamed Mady,Eman Haggag

doi:10.21608/aprh.2020.25896.1100

Abstract

Objectives: This review article highlights a remarkable class of compounds (polyketides) and their derivatives produced by fungi of genus Penicillium and the diversity of their biological activities, isolated, identified and biologically assessed. The species belong to this genus represent a large part of microbial diversity and one of the promising resources in the search of biologically active natural scaffolds. Penicillium genera are one of the most important sources of different secondary metabolites of a wide range of classes of chemical compounds, i.e., anthraquinones, benzodiazepines, coumarins, diketopiperazines, ergot alkaloids, polyketides, quinolines, quinazolines, steroids and terpenoids. Interest in these metabolites increases owing to their valuable pharmacological and therapeutic properties. Methods: This review includes articles between 1988 and 2018, reviewed by internationally accepted databases and scientific journals. Results: This review demonstrates the structural and biological diversity of fifty-three polyketides isolated from different Penicillium species highlighting the culture media used for fungal growth and solvent of extraction along with biological activities and the reported biological assays used to estimate the potential activities of the reviewed polyketides. Conclusion: The structural and biological diversity and potency of reviewed Penicillium polyketides along with the reproducibility of their production make them a perfect candidate for the discovery of new potent pharmaceuticals.

Highlights

The endophytic fungi are microorganisms that colonize in the internal tissues of plants, it represents a large kingdom of over 300,000 species on earth
The research strategy is focused on reviewing the polyketides and their derivatives isolated from Penicillium species arranged according to their reported biological activities depending on the published data in the internationally accepted databases like Science Direct, Scopus and Web of Science as well as scientific data collected from scientific journals
Active polyketides isolated from the genus Penicillium

Summary

Introduction

The endophytic fungi are microorganisms that colonize in the internal tissues of plants, it represents a large kingdom of over 300,000 species on earth. Every plant is considered a host of one or more endophytes, which generally affect the hosts’ abilities to survive in special environments[1]. It has been proved by several studies that microbes are not always harmful and a cause of infectious diseases: their secondary metabolites can treat and often cure such infections. Fungi and bacteria survive by their ability to kill or control other microorganisms with only their cell walls or cell membranes and chemical arsenals to defend them. These chemical arsenals have provided many of the important chemotherapeutics used to date[2].

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Conclusion