Response of the sesquiterpene synthesis in submerged cultures of the Basidiomycete to the medium composition.

, a potent fungal sesquiterpene producer, was grown Cerrena unicolor, as a model organism in submerged culture to search for chemicals affecting sesquiterpene biosynthesis in vitro. Thirty-one sesquiterpenes and sesquiterpenoids were identified in the supernatant, among them the fruity α-ylangene as the main volatile. Additives, such as some polysaccharides or lipids, did not affect the qualitative product spectrum but strongly affected the quantitative synthesis. Rye arabinoxylan and other polysaccharides, such as chitin, starch, and agarose, almost blocked the synthesis of α-ylangene. Single addition of the building blocks of arabinoxylan, arabinose, xylose, or ferulic acid showed no inhibitory effect, whereas 0.05% (/) 3-α-l-arabinofuranosyl-xylobiose and larger oligosaccharides resulted in a significant suppression. In contrast, addition of acetyl donors boosted the α-ylangene concentration by 1 order of magnitude up to >40 mg L. Both increased as well as decreased α-ylangene concentrations correlated with the intracellular sesquiterpene cyclase activity. Similar experiments using submerged cultured , and showed that the additives affected fungal sesquiterpenoid synthesis differently. Whereas the addition of acetyl donors boosted the synthesis in all biphasic cultures, it was inhibited by polysaccharides in fungi preferably interacting with lignified plants. In contrast, , known for a symbiotic lifestyle with wasps, responded by forming higher concentrations of the possibly insect-attracting sesquiterpenes.