Microbial Conjugation Studies of Licochalcones and Xanthohumol.

Microbial conjugation studies of licochalcones (1-4) and xanthohumol (5) were performed by using the fungi Mucor hiemalis and Absidia coerulea. As a result, one new glucosylated metabolite was produced by M. hiemalis whereas four new and three known sulfated metabolites were obtained by transformation with A. coerulea. Chemical structures of all the metabolites were elucidated on the basis of 1D-, 2D-NMR and mass spectroscopic data analyses. These results could contribute to a better understanding of the metabolic fates of licochalcones and xanthohumol in mammalian systems. Although licochalcone A 4'-sulfate (7) showed less cytotoxic activity against human cancer cell lines compared to its substrate licochalcone A, its activity was fairly retained with the IC50 values in the range of 27.35-43.07 µM.

[Lipid Composition in Cell Walls and in Mycelial and Spore Cells of Mycelial Fungi].

Qualitative and quantitative differences were found between the lipids of cell walls (CW) and of whole mycelial cells and dormant cells of mucoraceous and ascomycete fungi. Thus, whole mycelial cells (WC) contained more lipids than CW. Unlike sporangiospores and conidia (exogenous dormant spores), zygotes were found to have the highest content of triacylglycerol lipids (70%). Cell walls of mucoraceous fungi contained more triacylglycerols (TAG) and less polar lipids than ascomycete lipids. While all CW and WC studied were similar in fatty acid (FA) composition, their ratio was specific for each structure: linoleic acid predominated in mycelial CW and WC, while oleic acid was predominant in the spores; this difference was especially pronounced in conidial WC. Unlike WC, in CW massive lipids may be represented not by phosphatidylethanolamine (PEA) and phosphatidylcholine (PC), but by free fatty acids (FFA), free (FSt) and etherified sterols (ESt), phosphatidic acid (PA), fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), and glycolipids (GL), which is an indication of a special functional role of CW.

Hydroxylation of DHEA and its analogues by Absidia coerulea AM93. Can an inducible microbial hydroxylase catalyze 7α- and 7ß-hydroxylation of 5-ene and 5α-dihydro C19-steroids?

In this paper we focus on the course of 7-hydroxylation of DHEA, androstenediol, epiandrosterone, and 5α-androstan-3,17-dione by Absidia coerulea AM93. Apart from that, we present a tentative analysis of the hydroxylation of steroids in A. coerulea AM93. DHEA and androstenediol were transformed to the mixture of allyl 7-hydroxy derivatives, while EpiA and 5α-androstan-3,17-dione were converted mainly to 7α- and 7ß-alcohols accompanied by 9α- and 11α-hydroxy derivatives. On the basis of (i) time course analysis of hydroxylation of the abovementioned substrates, (ii) biotransformation with resting cells at different pH, (iii) enzyme inhibition analysis together with (iv) geometrical relationship between the C-H bond of the substrate undergoing hydroxylation and the cofactor-bound activated oxygen atom, it is postulated that the same enzyme can catalyze the oxidation of C7-Hα as well as C7-Hß bonds in 5-ene and 5α-dihydro C19-steroids. Correlations observed between the structure of the substrate and the regioselectivity of hydroxylation suggest that 7ß-hydroxylation may occur in the normal binding enzyme-substrate complex, while 7α-hydroxylation-in the reverse inverted binding complex.

Filtration kinetics of chitosan separation by electrofiltration.

Downstream processing of chitosan requires several technological steps that contribute to the total production costs. Precipitation and especially evaporation are energy-consuming processes, resulting in higher costs and limiting industrial scale production. This study investigated the filtration kinetics of chitosan derived from cell walls of fungi and from exoskeletons of arthropods by electrofiltration, an alternative method, thus reducing the downstream processing steps and costs. Experiments with different voltages and pressures were conducted in order to demonstrate the effect of both parameters on filtration kinetics. The concentration of the biopolymer was obtained by the average factor of 40 by applying an electric field of 4 V/mm and pressure of 4 bars. A series of analytical experiments demonstrated the lack of structural and functional changes in chitosan molecules after electrofiltration. These results, combined with the reduction of energy and processing time, define the investigated method as a promising downstream step in the chitosan production technology.

Differential growth of the fungus Absidia cylindrospora on 13C/15N-labelled media.

Many studies utilise enrichment of stable isotopes as tracers to follow the interactions occurring within soil food webs and methods have been developed to enrich bacteria, soil fauna and plant litter, Here for the first time we attempt to enrich a soil fungus to 99 atom% with (13)C and (15)N stable isotopes. In this study our objectives were to (a) assess whether the saprotrophic zygomycete fungus Absidia cylindrospora could grow on a medium enriched to 99 atom% with (13)C-glucose and (15)N-ammonium chloride, (b) to determine the level of enrichment obtained, and (c) to examine the change in growth rate of this fungus while it was growing on the dually enriched medium. To achieve this, the fungus was grown on agar enriched with (13)C and (15)N to 99 atom% and its growth rate monitored. The results showed that A. cylindrospora would grow on the highly labelled growth medium, but that its rate of growth was affected compared with the rate on either natural abundance media or media highly enriched with a single isotope ((13)C or (15)N). The implications of these results is that although the fungus is able to utilise these heavier isotopes, the biochemical processes involved in growth are affected, and consideration should be given to these differences when using stable isotope tracers in, for example, soil food web studies.

New dioscin-glycosidase hydrolyzing multi-glycosides of dioscin from Absidia strain.

A novel dioscin-glycosidase that specifically hydrolyzes multi-glycosides such as 3-O-alpha-L-(1 --> 4)-rhamnoside, 3-O-alpha-L-(1 --> 2)-rhamnoside, 3-O-alpha-L-(1 --> 4)-arabinoside and beta-D-glucoside on diosgenin was isolated from Absidia sp.d38 strain; and it was purified and characterized. The molecular weight of the new dioscin-glycosidase is about 55 kDa in SDS-PAGE. The the dioscin-glycosidase gradually hydrolyzes either 3-O-alpha-L-(1 --> 4)-Rha or 3-O-alpha-L-(1 --> 2)-Rha of dioscin to 3-O-alpha-L-Rha-beta-D-Glc-diosgenin; further rapidly hydrolyzes the other alpha-L-Rha of 3-O-alpha-L-Rha-beta-D-Glc-diosgenin to main intermediate products 3-O-beta-D-glc-diosgenin; and subsequently hydrolyzes intermediate products to final product of aglycone; the new enzyme also gradually hydrolyzes 3-O-alpha-L-(1 --> 4)-arabinoside, 3-O-alpha-L-(1 --> 2)-rhamnoside and beta-D-glucoside of [3-O-alpha-L-(1 --> 4)-Ara, 3-O-alpha-L-(1 --> 2)-Rha]-beta-D-Glc-diosgenin into final product diosgenin, exhibiting significant differences from previously reported glycosidases. The optimal temperature of the new dioscin-glycosidase is 40 degrees C and the optimal pH is 5.0. The activity of the new dioscin-glycosidase was not affected by the Na+, K+ and Mg2+ ions; it was significantly inhibited by the Cu2+ and Hg2+ ions; and it was slightly affected by the Ca2+ ions.

Biotransformation of ent-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid by Absidia blakesleeana and Rhizopus oligosporus.

Biotransformation of ent-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid was carried out with Absidia blakesleeana and Rhizopus oligosporus. Absidia blakesleeana produced two novel metabolites, ent-(7alpha, 9alpha)-dihydroxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid and ent-(1beta, 7alpha)-dihydroxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid, together with three known compounds: ent-7alpha-hydroxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid, ent-(7alpha, 11beta)-dihydroxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid and ent-(7alpha, 13)-dihydroxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid. The ent-7alpha-hydroxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid and ent-(7alpha, 9alpha)-dihydroxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid were obtained from R. oligosporus. The structures were established by spectroscopic techniques and X-ray crystallography.

Hydroxylation of diosgenin by Absidia coerulea.

Microbial transformation of diosgenin (1) using Absidia coerulea yielded five new polar metabolites, which were identified as (25R)-spirost-5-en-3 beta,7 beta,12 beta,25 alpha-tetrol (2), (25S)-spirost-5-en-3 beta,7 alpha,12 beta,25 beta-tetrol (3), (25S)-spirost-5-en-3 beta,7 beta,12 beta,25 beta-tetrol (4), (25R)-spirost-5-en-3 beta,7 alpha,12 beta,25 alpha-tetrol (5), and (25R)-spirost-5-en-3 beta,7 beta,12 beta,24 beta-tetrol (6). Their structures were established on the basis of mass spectrometry and multi-dimensional NMR spectroscopy. The characteristic transformations observed were C-7 alpha, C-7 beta, C-12 beta, C-24 beta, C-25 alpha, and C-25 beta hydroxylation. The cytotoxicity of compounds 1-6 was evaluated against the human myelogenous leukemia K562 cell line and squamous cell carcinoma KB parental cell lines. Compounds 2-6 exhibited weak cytotoxicity against K562 and KB cells and were less potent than the parent compound 1.

Lipids of the zygomycete Absidia corymbifera F-965.

The cell lipids of the zygomycete Absidia corymbifera F-965 extracted with isopropanol and CHCl3-MeOH mixtures at the exponential growth phase comprise 20+/-2% of mycelium dry wt. The lipids consist of: triacylglycerols (51% of the total lipids extracted), diacylglycerols (9%), monoacylglycerols (3%), ergosterol (5%), ergosterol peroxide (5alpha,8alpha-epidioxyergosta-6,22-diene-3beta-ol) (3%), fatty-acid esters of ergosterol (less than 0.5%), free fatty acids (4%), glucocerebroside (3%), and glycerophospholipids (22%). The main phospholipids are phosphatidylethanolamine (39% of the total phospholipids), phosphatidyl-myo-inositol (17%), diphosphatidylglycerol (12%), phosphatidic acid (7%), phosphatidylcholine (6%), phosphatidylglycerol (3%), and two unusual phospholipids reported earlier, N-acetylphosphatidylethanolamine (7%) and N-ethoxycarbonyl phosphatidylethanolamine (9%). In addition, two unknown acidic phospholipids are present in traces. Saturated fatty acids of the lipids are dominated by n-hexadecanoic acid and unsaturated ones by octadecenoic acid; octadecadienoic and octadecatrienoic acids are present in lesser amounts. Ergosterol peroxide as well as the above glucocerebroside which contains 9-methylsphinga-4(E),9(E)-dienine have first been revealed in zygomycetes.

A method for direct preparation of chitosan with low molecular weight from fungi.

By modifying the common method for the preparation of chitosan from fungi, low molecular weight chitosan with an average MW of 4.5 x 10(4) g/mol and a numerical MW of 1.7 x 10(4) g/mol can be directly extracted from the raw material without the need of thermal or chemical depolymerization. Based on the solubility of low molecular chitosan up to alkaline pH ranges, reprecipitation and washing with ethanol is required to keep the low molecular fraction within the preparation. The use of water for washing between the preparation steps would cause solving and discarding of the low molecular chitosan. The chitosan was analyzed by laser light scattering and 1H-NMR spectroscopy.

Glycolipids of the filamentous fungus Absidia corymbifera F-295.

The lipids extracted with CHCl(3)/MeOH mixtures from mycelium of the lower filamentous fungus Absidia corymbifera F-295 were found to contain three glycolipids. Based on the IR, 1H and 13C NMR spectra, plasma-desorption ionisation (PDI) mass spectra as well as chemical degradation results, the glycolipids were established to be 1-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-2-N-(2'-D-hydroxyhexadecanoyl)-9-methylsphinga-4(E),8(E)-dienine (glucosyl ceramide) and 2-O-(6'-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl)-beta-D-galactopyranosides of 2-D-hydroxy and erythro-2,3-dihydroxy fatty acids C(9), C(11), and C(13). They accounted for about 3.4, 0.8, and 0.4%, respectively, of the total lipids extracted. No lipids identical to the above monohydroxy and dihydroxy fatty acid glycosides have been reported.

Two unusual glycerophospholipids from a filamentous fungus, Absidia corymbifera.

The chloroform-methanol extractable lipids of the soil filamentous fungus Absidia corymbifera VKMF-965 account for about 20% by weight of dry cells and are composed of low-polarity constituents (about 75% of the total lipids), such as triacylglycerols (mainly), diacylglycerols, sterols and free fatty acids, as well as of glycolipids (about 3%) and phospholipids. The last consist largely of components common to the fungal lipids, namely, phosphatidylethanolamine (38% of the total phospholipids), phosphatidyl-myo-inositol (16%), diphosphatidylglycerol (12%), phosphatidylcholine (7%), phosphatidic acid (6%) and phosphatidylglycerol (3%), and two unusual phospholipids, PL1 (6%) and PL2 (9%). Based on the infrared (IR), (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), (13)C-NMR and mass spectra along with the results of degradation experiment, these two phospholipids have been established to be 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho(N-acetylethanolamine), or N-acetyl phosphatidylethanolamine, and 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho(N-ethoxycarbonyl-ethanolamine), respectively. These structures have been confirmed by preparing similar phospholipids from the phosphatidylethanolamine isolated from the same fungus and correlating their chromatographic behaviour, IR and (1)H-NMR spectra with those of PL1 and PL2. So far N-acetyl phosphatidylethanolamine has been detected only in cattle and human brains and a human placenta but its structure was not rigorously proved. PL2 is a novel lipid; to our knowledge no natural phospholipid with an urethane group has yet been found. The main fatty acids of both the phospholipids are n-hexadecanoic, octadecanoic and octadecadienoic ones; PL2 contains in addition a considerable amount of octadecatrienoic acid with its greater portion located at the sn-1 position.