Biochemistry of the wood-rotting fungi: 4. Metabolic products of Trametes suaveolens (Linn.) Fr

Fungal volatiles - a survey from edible mushrooms to moulds

Covering: up to January 2017This review gives a comprehensive overview of the production of fungal volatiles, including the history of the discovery of the first compounds and their distribution in the various investigated strains, species and genera, as unravelled by modern analytical methods. Biosynthetic aspects and the accumulated knowledge about the bioactivity and biological functions of fungal volatiles are also covered. A total number of 325 compounds is presented in this review, with 247 cited references.

Bakerian Lecture: A region of biosynthesis

The particular region of biosynthesis about which I propose to speak is that part of the kingdom of living things occupied by the fungi, particularly those fungi popularly known as ‘moulds’, with occasional reference to some higher fungi and also to lichens, which are of course symbionts of algae and fungi. It is, I think, not inappropriate that this should form the subject of a Bakerian Lecture, since the founder of this lecture, Mr Henry Baker, F .R .S ., who was an ardent microscopist, described in 1742 the spores of the fungus Lycorperdon , * the common puff ball(1). In the following year he gave a good description of Pilobolus , a mould of the mucor type, which he found growing on a culture of black mud from the river Thames (2). The exact position of fungi in the scheme of living things is still doubtful, since, to quote Dr John Ramsbottom(3), ‘if organisms must be either plants or animals, then fungi are plants with a nutrition resembling that of animals as they do not possess chlorophyll. If, however, chlorophyll is the hall mark of plant phylogeny the fact has to be faced that fungi probably never possessed it.’ Because of the absence of chlorophyll, fungi can be cultivated only on media containing pre-formed organic matter, but this very fact makes moulds particularly suitable for biochemical investigation, since they grow well on very simple media.

Bakerian Lecture - A region of biosynthesis

The particular region of biosynthesis about which I propose to speak is that part of the kingdom of living things occupied by the fungi, particularly those fungi popularly known as ‘moulds’, with occasional reference to some higher fungi and also to lichens, which are of course symbionts of algae and fungi. It is, I think, not appropriate that this should form the subject of a Bakerian Lecture, since the ounder of this lecture, Mr Henry Baker, F. R. S., who was an ardent microscopist, described in 1742 the spores of the fungus Lycoperdon , the common puff ball(1). In the following year he gave a good description of Pilobolus , a mould of the mucor type, which he found growing on a culture of black mud from the river Thames(2). The exact position of fungi in the scheme of living things is still doubtful, since, quote Dr John Ramsbottom(3), ‘if organisms must be either plants or animals, then fungi are plants with a nutrition resembling that of animals as they do not ossess chlorophyll. If, however, chlorophyll is the hall mark of plant phylogeny he fact has to be faced that fungi probably never possessed it.’ Because of the absence of chlorophyll, fungi can be cultivated only on media containing pre-formed organic matter, but this very fact makes moulds particularly suitable for biochemical investigation, since they grow well on very simple media.

De-novo biosynthesis of chlorinated aromatics by the white-rot fungus Bjerkandera sp. BOS55. Formation of 3-chloro-anisaldehyde from glucose

The white-rot fungus Bjerkandera sp. BOS55 produced de-novo several aromatic metabolites. Besides veratryl alcohol and veratraldehyde, compounds which are known to be involved in the ligninolytic system of several other white-rot fungi, other metabolites were formed. These included anisaldehyde, 3-chloro-anisaldehyde and a yet unknown compound containing two chlorine atoms. Additionally GC/MS analysis revealed the production of small amounts of anisyl alcohol and 3-chloro-anisyl alcohol. After 14 days, the extracellular fluid of Bjerkandera BOS55 contained 100 microM veratraldehyde and 50 microM 3-chloro-anisaldehyde. This is the first report of de-novo biosynthesis of simple chlorinated aromatic compounds by a white-rot fungus. Anisaldehyde and 3-chloro-anisaldehyde were also produced by Bjerkandera adusta but not by Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

Esters Produced by Chalaropsis thielavioides

Chalaropsis thielavioides, a filamnentous fungus. produces a characteristic ester-like aroma on potato dextrose broth. By gas-liquid chromatographic techniques, the major aroma-producing substances have been identified as isobutyl and ethyl acetate. Lesser amounts of isoamyl acetate, ethanol, and methanol were also present.