Discovery, Yield Improvement, and Application in Marine Coatings of Potent Antifouling Compounds Albofungins Targeting Multiple Fouling Organisms

Weiyi She; Wei Ye; Aifang Cheng; Wenkang Ye; Chunfeng Ma; Ruojun Wang; Jinping Cheng; Xuan Liu; Yujing Yuan; Sin Yu Chik; Jessie James Limlingan Malit; Yanhong Lu; Feng Chen; Pei-Yuan Qian

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.906345

Discovery, Yield Improvement, and Application in Marine Coatings of Potent Antifouling Compounds Albofungins Targeting Multiple Fouling Organisms

Front Microbiol. 2022 Jul 7:13:906345. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.906345. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Weiyi She^{1

2

3}, Wei Ye^{1

2}, Aifang Cheng^{1

2}, Wenkang Ye^{1

2

3}, Chunfeng Ma⁴, Ruojun Wang^{1

2}, Jinping Cheng^{1

2}, Xuan Liu^{1

2}, Yujing Yuan^{1

2}, Sin Yu Chik^{1

2}, Jessie James Limlingan Malit^{1

2}, Yanhong Lu^{2

3}, Feng Chen⁵, Pei-Yuan Qian^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, China.
² Department of Ocean Science and Hong Kong Brach of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
³ SZU-HKUST Joint PhD Program in Marine Environmental Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
⁴ Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.
⁵ Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.

Abstract

Marine biofouling caused huge economic losses of maritime industries. We aim to develop high-efficient, less-toxic, and cost-effective antifoulants to solve the problems of biofouling. In this study, we described the antifouling compounds albofungin and its derivatives (albofungin A, chrestoxanthone A, and chloroalbofungin) isolated from the metabolites of bacterium Streptomyces chrestomyceticus BCC 24770, the construction of high-yield strains for albofungin production, and application of albofungin-based antifouling coatings. Results showed that these albofungins have potent antibiofilm activities against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and anti-macrofouling activities against larval settlement of major fouling organisms with low cytotoxicity. With the best antifouling activity and highest yield in bacterial culture, albofungin was subsequently incorporated with hydrolyzable and degradable copolymer to form antifouling coatings, which altered biofilm structures and prevented the settlement of macrofouling organisms in marine environments. Our results suggested that albofungins were promising antifouling compounds with potential application in marine environments.

Keywords: Streptomyces chrestomyceticus; albofungin yield improvement; antifouling activity; cluster-situated regulator; marine coatings.