Bioactive natural products from endophytic fungi
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Date
2019
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University of New Brunswick
Abstract
Natural products are a source of diverse chemical structures with a broad range of bioactivities that provide valuable lead-compounds for drug development. This thesis explores the diversity of natural products biosynthesised by endophytes of marine macroalgae and medicinal plants. Fermentation extracts obtained from four endophytic fungi exhibited significant antimicrobial activity in our bioassay screens and their natural products chemistry was therefore investigated. This resulted in the isolation of poly(3R,5R-dihydroxyhexanoic acid), neobulgarones D, E and F, altenusin, (Z)-6R*,7S*- dihydroxy-2-propyl-2,4-octadien-4-olide, (Z)-6R*,7R*-dihydroxy-2-propyl-2,4-octadien4-olide and punctaporonins A, B, C, T and U. Of these natural products, six were found to possess antimicrobial activity and three were new chemical structures. The discovery of these new bioactivities and new chemical structures adds to the growing evidence that endophytic fungi are a source of chemical diversity and biologically relevant molecules.