Identification and characterization of compounds from Chrysosporium multifidum, a fungus with moderate antimicrobial activity isolated from Hermetia illucens gut microbiota

PLoS One. 2019 Dec 20;14(12):e0218837. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218837. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

The gut microbiota of insects is composed of a wide range of microorganisms which produce bioactive compounds that protect their host from pathogenic attack. In the present study, we isolate and identify the fungus Chrysosporium multifidum from the gut of Hermetia illucens larvae. Extract from C. multifidum culture broth supernatant showed moderate activity against a strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Bioguided isolation of the extract resulted in the characterization of six α-pyrone derivatives (1-6) and one diketopiperazine (7). Of these compounds, 5,6-dihydro-4-methoxy-6-(1-oxopentyl)-2H-pyran-2-one (4) showed the greatest activity (IC50 = 11.4 ± 0.7 μg/mL and MIC = 62.5 μg/mL) against MRSA.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Infective Agents / isolation & purification*
  • Chrysosporium / chemistry*
  • Chrysosporium / isolation & purification
  • Diptera / microbiology*
  • Fungi / chemistry
  • Fungi / isolation & purification
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome / genetics
  • Gastrointestinal Microbiome / physiology
  • Larva / microbiology
  • Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / drug effects
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the program Ciencia Activa (FONDECYT-CONCYTEC) for the project 108-2015-FONDECYT “Research of new antibiotic molecules isolated from the microbial diversity of the gut of a saprophagous Peruvian fly”.