Penicillium nalgiovense Laxa isolated from Antarctica is a new source of the antifungal metabolite amphotericin B

• Published in: Fungal Biology and Biotechnology
• Main Authors: Svahn, Stefan, Chryssanthou, Erja, Olsen, Björn, Bohlin, Lars, Göransson, Ulf
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Avdelningen för farmakognosi 2015
• Subjects: Amphotericin B; Penicillium nalgiovense Laxa; Antarctica; Medicinal Chemistry; Läkemedelskemi; Laxa; South Pole; Antarc*; South pole
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-242609; https://doi.org/10.1186/s40694-014-0011-x

Background: The need for new antibiotic drugs increases as pathogenic microorganisms continue to develop resistance against current antibiotics. We obtained samples from Antarctica as part of a search for new antimicrobial metabolites derived from filamentous fungi. This terrestrial environment in the South Pole is hostile and extreme due to a sparsely populated food web, low temperatures, and insufficient liquid water availability. We hypothesize that this environment could cause the development of fungal defense or survival mechanisms not found elsewhere. Results: We isolated a strain of Penicillium nalgiovense Laxa from a soil sample obtained from an abandoned penguin’s nest. Amphotericin B was the only metabolite secreted from P. nalgiovense Laxa with noticeable antimicrobial activity,with minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.125 µg/mL against Candida albicans. This is the first time that amphotericin B has been isolated from an organism other than the bacterium Streptomyces nodosus. In terms of amphotericin B production, cultures on solid medium proved to be a more reliable and favorable choice compared to a liquid. Conclusions: These results encourage further investigation of the many unexplored sampling sites characterized by extreme conditions, and confirm filamentous fungi as potential sources of metabolites with antimicrobial activity.