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DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1320242
Fungal co-culture as a new source of bioactive induced metabolites: A MS-based metabolomic study
In natural product research, access to new biological sources represents a key element. A particularly large number of biologically active molecules are originating from microorganisms [1]. Very recently, the use of fungal co-culture for activation of silent genes related to metabolite biosynthesis was found successful for the induction of new compounds [2]. For such type of studies a challenge is the localization and identification of the induced metabolites in the confrontation zone where fungi interact at the petri dish level.
In order to tackle this issue a high throughput UHPLC-TOF-MS based metabolomic approach has been developed for the screening of miniaturized 12-wellplates fungal co-cultures. The strategy provided a satisfactory reproducibility and was used for the identification of induced biomarkers on a large panel of pathogenic fungi. This study demonstrates the consistent induction of new metabolites through co-culture.
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by Swiss National Science Foundation Sinergia Grant CRSII3_127187 (to J.-L. W., K. G. and M. M.)
[1] Berdy J, J. Antibiot. 2005, 58, 1; [2] Glauser G et al., J. Agr. Food. Chem., 2009, 57, 1127.