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Review
. 2019 Dec 20;18(1):9.
doi: 10.3390/md18010009.

Deep-Sea Fungi Could Be the New Arsenal for Bioactive Molecules

Muhammad Zain Ul Arifeen  1 , Yu-Nan Ma  1 , Ya-Rong Xue  1 , Chang-Hong Liu  1
Affiliations
Review

Deep-Sea Fungi Could Be the New Arsenal for Bioactive Molecules

Muhammad Zain Ul Arifeen et al. Mar Drugs. .

Abstract

Growing microbial resistance to existing drugs and the search for new natural products of pharmaceutical importance have forced researchers to investigate unexplored environments, such as extreme ecosystems. The deep-sea (>1000 m below water surface) has a variety of extreme environments, such as deep-sea sediments, hydrothermal vents, and deep-sea cold region, which are considered to be new arsenals of natural products. Organisms living in the extreme environments of the deep-sea encounter harsh conditions, such as high salinity, extreme pH, absence of sun light, low temperature and oxygen, high hydrostatic pressure, and low availability of growth nutrients. The production of secondary metabolites is one of the strategies these organisms use to survive in such harsh conditions. Fungi growing in such extreme environments produce unique secondary metabolites for defense and communication, some of which also have clinical significance. Despite being the producer of many important bioactive molecules, deep-sea fungi have not been explored thoroughly. Here, we made a brief review of the structure, biological activity, and distribution of secondary metabolites produced by deep-sea fungi in the last five years.

Keywords: bioactive compounds; deep-sea; ecosystem; extreme; fungi; secondary metabolites.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structures of polyketide secondary metabolites obtained from deep-sea fungi.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bioactive alkaloid compounds isolated from deep-sea fungi.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bioactive polypeptides isolated from deep-sea fungi.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Bioactive polypeptides isolated from deep-sea fungi.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Ester and phenolic derivatives obtained from deep-sea fungi.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Piperazine derivatives isolated from deep-sea fungi.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Structures of terpenoid secondary metabolites obtained from deep-sea fungi.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Bioactive metabolites derived from deep-sea fungi.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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