Anti-inflammatory constituents from a sea anemone-derived fungus Arthrinium arundinis MA30.

In this study, preliminary field-sampling of bioactive fungal strains and bioassay-guided selection were conducted. A number of fungal strains were isolated from sea anemones along the northeastern coast of Badouzi, Keelung, Taiwan. Among them, Arthrinium arundinis MA30 showed significant anti-inflammatory activity and was thus selected for further chemical investigation.

Chemical constituents from the medicinal herb-derived fungus Chaetomium globosum Km1226.

Background: Endophytic fungi have proven to be a rich source of novel natural products with a wide-array of biological activities and higher levels of structural diversity.

Results: Chemical investigation on the liquid- and solid-state fermented products of Chaetomium globosum Km1226 isolated from the littoral medicinal herb Atriplex maximowicziana Makino resulted in the isolation of compounds 1-14. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis as three previously undescribed C-polyketides, namely aureonitol C (1), mollipilins G (2), and H (3), along with eleven known compounds 4-14.

Anti-Epstein-Barr Viral Agents from the Medicinal Herb-Derived Fungus Km2286.

Chromatographic separation on the liquid-state fermented products produced by the fungal strain Km2286 isolated from the littoral medicinal herb Makino resulted in the isolation of compounds -. Structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis as four undescribed perylenequinones, altertromins A-D (-), along with altertoxin IV (), altertoxin VIII (), stemphyperylenol (), tenuazonic acid (), and -tenuazonic acid (). Compounds - exhibited antiviral activities against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) with EC values ranging from 0.

Bioactive pulvinones from a marine algicolous fungus Aspergillus terreus NTU243.

Marine fungi are regarded as an under-explored source of structurally interesting and bioactive natural products with the potential to provide attractive lead compounds for drug discovery. In this study, several fungal strains were isolated from marine algae collected from the northeastern coast of Taiwan. In the preliminary antimicrobial screening against bacteria and fungi, the ethyl acetate extract of the fermented products of Aspergillus terreus NTU243 derived from a green alga Ulva lactuca was found to exhibit significant antimicrobial activities.

Isolation of endophytic fungi with antimicrobial activity from medicinal plant Zanthoxylum simulans Hance.

Fungal endophytes have been found to exist in many plant species and appear to be important to their plant hosts. However, the diversity and biological activities of these fungi remain largely unknown. Zanthoxylum simulans Hance, a popular natural spice and medicinal plant, commonly known as Szechuan pepper or Chinese-pepper, grows on Kinmen Island, Taiwan.

Anti-inflammatory effects of peptides from a marine algicolous fungus Acremonium sp. NTU492 in BV-2 microglial cells.

Located in tropical and subtropical region, Taiwan is an island with high algal species diversity. In this study, a number of fungal strains were isolated from marine macroalgae collected from northeastern intertidal zone of Taiwan. Preliminary anti-inflammatory screening has shown that the methanolic extracts of solid fermented products of the red alga Mastophora rosea-derived fungal strain Acremonium sp.

A highly diverse fungal community associated with leaves of the mangrove plant var. revealed by isolation and metabarcoding analyses.

A high diversity of culturable foliar endophytic fungi is known from various mangrove plants, and the core taxa include species from , , , , , among others. Since a small fraction of fungi is able to grow in culture, this study investigated the diversity of fungi associated with leaves of var. using both isolation and metabarcoding approaches.

Does Osmotic Stress Affect Natural Product Expression in Fungi?

The discovery of new natural products from fungi isolated from the marine environment has increased dramatically over the last few decades, leading to the identification of over 1000 new metabolites. However, most of the reported marine-derived species appear to be terrestrial in origin yet at the same time, facultatively halo- or osmotolerant. An unanswered question regarding the apparent chemical productivity of marine-derived fungi is whether the common practice of fermenting strains in seawater contributes to enhanced secondary metabolism? To answer this question, a terrestrial isolate of was fermented in osmotic and saline stress conditions in parallel across multiple sites.

Hirsutane-Type Sesquiterpenes with Inhibitory Activity of Microglial Nitric Oxide Production from the Red Alga-Derived Fungus Chondrostereum sp. NTOU4196.

The marine red alga Pterocladiella capillacea is an economic alga for the food industry in Taiwan, and its associated highly diversified fungi have not been investigated meticulously thus far. The EtOAc extract of the fermented broth of Chondrostereum sp. NTOU4196, a fungal strain isolated from P.

Biodegradation of anthraquinone dyes by Shewanella sp. NTOU1 under anaerobic conditions.

Shewanella sp. NTOU1 was able to decolorize a range of anthraquinone dyes [Reactive Blue 4 (RB4), Reactive Blue 19 (RB19), Mordant Red 11 (MR11), Disperse Red 15 (DR15), and Disperse Blue 3 (DB3)] under anaerobic conditions. By supplementing the medium with formate and ferric citrate as the electron donor and acceptor, respectively and cultivating it under the optimum pH (8-9) and temperature (45 degrees C), this strain could decolorize these dyes (1,000 mg/L) at the initial color removal rates of 15-126 mg/L/h and the rates among them were RB19 > RB4 > DB3 > DR15 > MR11.

The effects of benzoate, cyclohex-1-ene carboxylate, and cyclohexane carboxylate on biotransformation of o-phthalate in sediment slurries under sulfate-reducing conditions.

It was found in this study that while addition of the predicted intermediate product benzoate did not, addition of cyclohex-1-ene or cyclohexane carboxylate did inhibit the biotransformation of o-phthalate in sulfate-reducing o-phthalate-adapted sediment slurries under a CO2/H2 atmosphere. Biotransformation rates of benzoate were slightly higher than those of o-phthalate in sediment slurries amended with o-phthalate plus benzoate. By using the most probable number (MPN) method to determine the number of o-phthalate transformers, similar growth dynamics of o-phthalate transformers were observed in sediment slurries amended with or without benzoate.