Discovery of bioactive secondary metabolites produced by a fungal strain associated with a marine host

• Grant number: 23/07395-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Roberto Gomes de Souza Berlinck
• Grantee: Felipe Rampani de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química de São Carlos (IQSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Fungi associated with hosts, such as plants, insects, and other animals, are still poorly known in terms of their biological diversity and secondary metabolism. Therefore, it becomes important to investigate the mycobiota of different organisms, and the secondary metabolism of these strains may have significant biotechnological importance. The present project aims to investigate the biology and chemistry of an unidentified fungal strain (coded as M3): a) to reactivate and to obtain an appropriate culture for its taxonomic identification by experts; b) to perform a large-scale growth of the culture medium of this strain for the isolation of bioactive metabolites; c) to identify at least some of the isolated metabolites; d) to subject the isolated and identified metabolites to bioassays for anti-plasmodial, anti-Leishmania, anti-T. cruzi, antifungal, cytotoxicity against tumor cells, and antimicrobial activity against antibiotic-resistant strains of pathogenic bacteria.