Coprophilous fungi: antibiotic discovery and functions in an underexplored arena of microbial defensive mutualism

Gerald F Bills; James B Gloer; Zhiqiang An

doi:10.1016/j.mib.2013.08.001

Back

Coprophilous fungi: antibiotic discovery and functions in an underexplored arena of microbial defensive mutualism

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Coprophilous fungi: antibiotic discovery and functions in an underexplored arena of microbial defensive mutualism

Gerald F Bills, James B Gloer and Zhiqiang An

Current opinion in microbiology, Vol.16(5), pp.549-565

10/2013

DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2013.08.001

PMID: 23978412

View Online

Abstract

Microbial antibiotics can mediate mutualisms and interorganism communications. Herbivorous animal dung offers opportunities for discovery of new antibiotics from microbial communities that compete for a nutrient-rich, ephemeral resource. Distinct lineages form a specialized community of coprophilous (dung-colonizing) fungi. Bacteria, protists, invertebrates, the mammalian digestive system, and other fungi can pose challenges to their fitness in the dung environment. The well-characterized diversity of dung fungi offers accessible systems for dissecting the function of antibiotics and for exploring fungal genomes for new antibiotics. Their potential for antibiotic discovery is evidenced by a high frequency of antifungal antibiotics and bioactive secondary metabolites from limited prior efforts and from mapping biosynthetic pathways in the genomes of the coprophilous fungi Podospora anserina and Sordaria macrospora.

Feces - microbiology

Anti-Infective Agents - isolation & purification

Animals

Anti-Infective Agents - pharmacology

Fungi - physiology

Drug Discovery - methods

Biological Products - pharmacology

Fungi - growth & development

Fungi - metabolism

Genomics - methods

Microbial Interactions

Biological Products - isolation & purification

Details

Title: Subtitle: Coprophilous fungi: antibiotic discovery and functions in an underexplored arena of microbial defensive mutualism
Creators: Gerald F Bills - Texas Therapeutics Institute, The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, 1825 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Electronic address: gerald.f.bills@uth.tmc.edu
James B Gloer
Zhiqiang An
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Current opinion in microbiology, Vol.16(5), pp.549-565
DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2013.08.001
PMID: 23978412
NLM abbreviation: Curr Opin Microbiol
ISSN: 1369-5274
eISSN: 1879-0364
Publisher: England
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000002, name: National Institutes of Health
Language: English
Date published: 10/2013
Academic Unit: Chemistry
Record Identifier: 9983985879802771

Metrics

21 Record Views

73 Times Cited - Web of Science