Aerial warfare: An inducible production of volatile bioactive metabolites in a novel species of Scytinostroma sp

Françios A B Olivier; Kyung W Bang; Erica Zarate; Matias Kinzurik; Daria Chudakova; Austen R D Ganley; Silas G Villas-Boas

doi:10.1016/j.fgb.2021.103646

Aerial warfare: An inducible production of volatile bioactive metabolites in a novel species of Scytinostroma sp

Fungal Genet Biol. 2022 Jan:158:103646. doi: 10.1016/j.fgb.2021.103646. Epub 2021 Nov 24.

Authors

Françios A B Olivier¹, Kyung W Bang², Erica Zarate³, Matias Kinzurik⁴, Daria Chudakova⁵, Austen R D Ganley⁶, Silas G Villas-Boas⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 3A Symonds Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand. Electronic address: francios.olivier@monash.edu.
² School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 3A Symonds Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand. Electronic address: kban028@aucklanduni.ac.nz.
³ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 3A Symonds Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand. Electronic address: e.zarate@auckland.ac.nz.
⁴ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 3A Symonds Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand. Electronic address: matias.kinzurik@bri.co.nz.
⁵ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 3A Symonds Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand. Electronic address: d.chudakova@auckland.ac.nz.
⁶ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 3A Symonds Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand. Electronic address: a.ganley@auckland.ac.nz.
⁷ School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, 3A Symonds Street, Auckland 1010, New Zealand; Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), 5 rue Bommel, Z.A.E. Robert Steichen, L-4940 Hautcharage, Luxembourg. Electronic address: silas.villas-boas@list.lu.

PMID: 34826598
DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2021.103646

Abstract

Antimicrobial volatile organic compounds (VOCs) may provide fungi an advantage over other competing microorganisms. As these defensive metabolites are often produced in response to microbial competitors, they are easily overlooked in axenic cultures. We used media supplemented with spent medium from Candida albicans to induce the expression of a broad-spectrum antimicrobial response in a previously uncharacterised white-rot fungus, Scytinostroma sp. Crude extractions of Scytinostroma sp. metabolites were found to be cytotoxic to fibroblast cells and antimicrobial to filamentous fungi, yeasts and Gram-positive bacteria. Volatile antimicrobial activity was observed for Scytinostroma sp. cultures and metabolite extracts using antimicrobial assays in bi-compartmentalised plates. Culture headspace analysis using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) revealed a pronounced shift in Scytinostroma sp. VOCs when cultured on media supplemented with C. albicans spent medium. We observed a significant increase in the levels of 45 identified VOCs, including 7 metabolites with reported antimicrobial activity. Using preparative HPLC combined with GC-MS, we determined that isovelleral is likely to be the main broad-spectrum antimicrobial metabolite produced by Scytinostroma sp. Isovelleral is a sesquiterpene dialdehyde with both antibiotic and antifeedant properties, previously detected in fruit bodies of other Basidiomycetes.

Keywords: Antibiotic; Fungicide; Metabolic footprint; Russulales; Terpenes.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Basidiomycota*
Fruit
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Solid Phase Microextraction
Volatile Organic Compounds*

Substances

Volatile Organic Compounds