Anaerobic gut fungi are an untapped reservoir of natural products
Candice L. Swift, Katherine Louie, Benjamin P. Bowen, Heather Olson, Samuel Purvine, Asaf Salamov, Stephen J. Mondo, Kevin Solomon, Aaron Wright, Trent R. Northen, Igor V. Grigoriev, Nancy P. Keller, Michelle O’Malley
Abstract
alone. A compound produced by all four strains of anaerobic fungi was putatively identified as the polyketide-related styrylpyrone baumin. Molecular networking quantified similarities between tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) spectra among these fungi, enabling three groups of natural products to be identified that are unique to anaerobic fungi. Overall, these results support the finding that anaerobic gut fungi synthesize natural products, which could be harnessed as a source of antimicrobials, therapeutics, and other bioactive compounds.