Chemical and biological investigation of metabolites produced by fungi associated with the stingless bee colony Melipona quadrifasciata

• Grant number: 22/14896-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2023
• End date: November 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Lívia Soman de Medeiros
• Grantee: Jullio Kennedy Castro Soares
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas (ICAQF). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Diadema. Diadema , SP, Brazil

Abstract

One of the costs linked to eusociality in insects refers to the greater risk of exposure to entomopathogenic agents, such as bacteria and fungi. The stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) are included in this situation, which may have evolved several defense mechanisms to prevent colony disease, like the association with fungal species that produce antimicrobial agents. In this context, the identification of chemical diversity and the biological function of compounds produced by fungi that live together with bees and their colonies can significantly contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms involved in this type of protection mediated by symbionts. Therefore, the project is dedicated to the investigation of metabolites with antifungal bioactivity produced by fungi associated with the stingless bee called mandaçaia (Melipona quadrifasciata), which comprises a target of studies that are still incipient in the literature, representing a promising interdisciplinary investigative challenge. Previous isolations in our research group provided indications of an abundant mycobiota in the mandaçaia colony, which can be antagonized with ecologically relevant fungi for stingless bees to induce eventual antimicrobial compounds. The implementation of bioactivity assays, combined with metabolomic and spectroscopic analyses, will serve as an approach for a better understanding of the possible symbiosis between microorganisms and stingless bees, mediated by fungal chemodiversity. Furthermore, the elucidation of this association represents a resource for the identification of natural products with antimicrobial potential.