[Study of photochemical and surface-active melanins of some representatives of black fungi].

The absorption spectra of melanins isolated from some black ascomycetes, as well as of synthetic melanin and natural melanin from Sepia officinalis, were recorded in the long-wavelength ultraviolet region A (320 nm < lambda < 400 nm) and in the blue-violet region of the electromagnetic spectrum at illumination intensities varying from 0.02 to 1 mW/cm2. The photochemical properties of fungal melanins were found to be dependent on both the producing strain and the conditions of its cultivation. The fungal melanins are more susceptible to photomodification and more biologically active than the synthetic melanin, indicating that these properties may be related. The data obtained suggest that the fungal melanins susceptible to photomodification possess higher biological activity than commercial melanins.