Optimization of fermentation conditions and purification of cordycepin from Cordyceps militaris

Conservation of Endangered Cordyceps sinensis Through Artificial Cultivation Strategies of C. militaris, an Alternate

Cordyceps, an entomopathogenic fungus belonging to the Ascomycota phylum, is a familiar remedial mushroom that is extensively used in the traditional medicinal system, especially in South Asian nations. The significance of this genus' members in a range of therapeutic and biotechnological applications has long been acknowledged. The exceedingly valuable fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Cordyceps sinensis) is found in the alpine meadows of Bhutan, Nepal, Tibet, and India, where it is severely harvested. Driven by market demand and ecological concerns, the study highlights challenges in natural C. sinensis collection and emphasizes the shift towards sustainable artificial cultivation methods. This in-depth review navigates Cordyceps cultivation strategies, focusing on C. sinensis and the viable alternative, C. militaris. The escalating demand for Cordyceps fruiting bodies and bioactive compounds prompts a shift toward sustainable artificial cultivation. While solid-state fermentation on brown rice remains a traditional method, liquid culture, especially submerged and surface/static techniques, emerges as a key industrial approach, offering shorter cultivation periods and enhanced cordycepin production. The review accentuates the adaptability and scalability of liquid culture, providing valuable insights for large-scale Cordyceps production. The future prospects of Cordyceps cultivation require a holistic approach, combining scientific understanding, technological innovation, and sustainable practices to meet the demand for bioactive metabolites while ensuring the conservation of natural Cordyceps populations.

Optogenetic control of Cdc48 for dynamic metabolic engineering in yeast

Dynamic metabolic engineering is a strategy to switch key metabolic pathways in microbial cell factories from biomass generation to accumulation of target products. Here, we demonstrate that optogenetic intervention in the cell cycle of budding yeast can be used to increase production of valuable chemicals, such as the terpenoid β-carotene or the nucleoside analog cordycepin. We achieved optogenetic cell-cycle arrest in the G2/M phase by controlling activity of the ubiquitin-proteasome system hub Cdc48. To analyze the metabolic capacities in the cell cycle arrested yeast strain, we studied their proteomes by timsTOF mass spectrometry. This revealed widespread, but highly distinct abundance changes of metabolic key enzymes. Integration of the proteomics data in protein-constrained metabolic models demonstrated modulation of fluxes directly associated with terpenoid production as well as metabolic subsystems involved in protein biosynthesis, cell wall synthesis, and cofactor biosynthesis. These results demonstrate that optogenetically triggered cell cycle intervention is an option to increase the yields of compounds synthesized in a cellular factory by reallocation of metabolic resources.

Engineering Komagataella phaffii to biosynthesize cordycepin from methanol which drives global metabolic alterations at the transcription level

Cordycepin has the potential to be an alternative to the disputed herbicide glyphosate. However, current laborious and time-consuming production strategies at low yields based on Cordyceps militaris lead to extremely high cost and restrict its application in the field of agriculture. In this study, Komagataella phaffii (syn. Pichia pastoris) was engineered to biosynthesize cordycepin from methanol, which could be converted from CO2. Combined with fermentation optimization, cordycepin content in broth reached as high as 2.68 ± 0.04 g/L within 168 h, around 15.95 mg/(L·h) in productivity. Additionally, a deaminated product of cordycepin was identified at neutral or weakly alkaline starting pH during fermentation. Transcriptome analysis found the yeast producing cordycepin was experiencing severe inhibition in methanol assimilation and peroxisome biogenesis, responsible for delayed growth and decreased carbon flux to pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) which led to lack of precursor supply. Amino acid interconversion and disruption in RNA metabolism were also due to accumulation of cordycepin. The study provided a unique platform for the manufacture of cordycepin based on the emerging non-conventional yeast and gave practical strategies for further optimization of the microbial cell factory.

Poly-pathways metabolomics for high-yielding cordycepin of Cordyceps militaris

Cordycepin is an important quality control marker in Cordyceps militaris. This study aimed to explain the metabolic mechanisms for high-yielding cordycepin of C. militaris. In this study, high-yielding strains of cordycepin were obtained by ultraviolet mutagenesis, and the polysaccharide and protein contents were also changed. In high-yielding strains, the protein content significantly increased, whereas the polysaccharide content decreased. Simultaneously, metabolic differences for high- and low-yielding cordycepin strains were detected by metabolomics. Metabolomics results showed that the relative content of most metabolites decreased in high-yielding cordycepin strains. Various metabolic pathways have been altered in high-yielding cordycepin strains, such as the citric acid cycle, purine metabolism, and pyrimidine metabolism, leading to an increase in cordycepin content. In addition, changes in metabolic poly-pathways related to polysaccharide and protein synthesis, such as galactose metabolism and amino acid metabolism, promoted an increase in cordycepin content. This study analyzes the high yield of cordycepin in C. militaris at the metabolic level and provides a theoretical basis for further increasing cordycepin content.

Construction of Cordycepin High-Production Strain and Optimization of Culture Conditions

This study aimed to increase cordycepin production by over-expressing bio-synthetic enzyme genes, including the adenylosuccinate synthase, adenylosuccinate lyase, and 5'-nucleotidase genes. Research data showed that the extracellular and intracellular cordycepin concent of 24 recombinant strains were higher than those of C. militaris WT, indicating that over-expression of key enzyme genes increased cordycepin production. Among them, the CM-adss-5 strain had highest cordycepin production, and the extracellular and intracellular cordycepin concent were 1119.75 ± 1.61 and 65.56 ± 0.97 mg/L, which were 1.26 and 2.61 times that of C. militaris WT. This study also optimized the culture conditions of CM-adss-5 strain through single factor experiments to obtain the best culture conditions. The best culture condition was 25 °C constant temperature, 180-rpm shaking culture, fermentation period 12 days, inoculate amount 5%, initial pH 6, seed age 108 h, and liquid volume 110/250 mL. Then, the extracellular and intracellular cordycepin content of CM-adss-5 strain reached 2581.96 ± 21.07 and 164.08 ± 1.44 mg/L, which were higher by 130.6% and 150.3%, respectively. Therefore, our research provides a way to efficiently produce cordycepin for the development of cordycepin and its downstream products.

Isolation and identification of a new biocontrol bacteria against Salvia miltiorrhiza root rot and optimization of culture conditions for antifungal substance production using response surface methodology

Background

S. miltiorrhiza root rot is a soil-borne disease mainly caused by Fusarium solani and Fusarium oxysporum, which has spread rapidly in China in recent years. To reduce the amount of pesticides to control this plant fungal disease, biological control using endophytic bacteria is a promising method. Many endophytic bacteria show good biocontrol potential against various plant fungal diseases. The aims of this study were to isolate and identify endophytic bacteria with antifungal activity from Salvia miltiorrhiza plant tissue. In order to increase antifungal substances production, the culture conditions of the isolated DS-R5 strain were optimized through response surface methodology.

Results

Thirteen endophytic bacteria with antifungal activity against the target pathogenic fungus were successfully screened. The DS-R5 strain that had the strongest antifungal activity was identified based on morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics, 16S rRNA and gyrB sequence analysis.The results of response surface methodology experiments showed that the optimal values of the three significant factors were as follows: medium volume, 51.0 ml; initial pH, 6.7; fermentation temperature, 33.1 °C. Under these optimal culture conditions, the titer of antifungal substances produced by the DS-R5 strain was 77.6% higher than that under the initial culture conditions.

Conclusions

The antifungal activity of endophytic bacteria from Salvia miltiorrhiza has been demonstrated for the first time, which may benefit future crop quality and production. In addition, response surface methodology can be well applied the optimization of culture conditions for antifungal substance, which lays the foundation for further research on strain DS-R5.

Enhancement of cordycepin production from Cordyceps militaris culture by epigenetic modification

Cordycepin (3'-deoxyadenosine) is a nucleoside analogue and biosynthesised by Cordyceps militaris, an entomopathogenic fungus. In this study, an epigenetic modifier was applied to static liquid cultures to enhance cordycepin production. C. militaris was cultured in a static liquid culture, and valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, was supplemented in order to modifying the epigenetic status. Gene regulatory network was explored to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying cordycepin production. 50 micromolar of VPA enhanced cordycepin production by 41.187% via the upregulation of 5'-nucleotidase, adenylate kinase, phosphorybosyltransferase, Cns1, Cns2, Cnsa3, and Cns4 of C. militaris for at least 2 days after VPA treatment. The maximum production of cordycepin was 2,835.32 ± 34.35 mg/L in 400 mL-working volume. A scaled-up culture was established with a working volume of 10 L, which led to the slight decrease of cordycepin production. This might due to multifactorial effects, for instance limited aeration and an uneven dispersion of nutrients in the culture system. This scaled-up culture was still needed further optimization. The modification of epigenetic status by VPA significantly enhanced cordycepin production by altering key gene regulatory network of C. militaris. The strategy established in this study might be applicable to other microorganism culture in order to improving the production of bioactive compounds. This work aimed to enhance the production of cordycepin by modifying the epigenetic status of C. militaris, in which subsequently altered gene regulatory network of cordycepin biosynthesis pathway. The weekly supplementation of valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, significantly improve cordycepin production over 40%, compared to the untreated control, and the gene regulatory network of C. militaris was also adapted.

Biomass and Cordycepin Production by the Medicinal Mushroom Cordyceps militaris-A Review of Various Aspects and Recent Trends towards the Exploitation of a Valuable Fungus

Cordyceps militaris is an entomopathogenic ascomycete with similar pharmacological importance to that of the wild caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis. C. militaris has attracted significant research and commercial interest due to its content in bioactive compounds beneficial to human health and the relative ease of cultivation under laboratory conditions. However, room for improvement exists in the commercial-scale cultivation of C. militaris and concerns issues principally related to appropriate strain selection, genetic degeneration of cultures, and substrate optimization. In particular, culture degeneration-usually expressed by abnormal fruit body formation and reduced sporulation-results in important economic losses and is holding back investors and potential growers (mainly in Western countries) from further developing this highly promising sector. In the present review, the main factors that influence the generation of biomass and metabolites (with emphasis on cordycepin biosynthesis) by C. militaris are presented and evaluated in conjunction with the use of a wide range of supplements or additives towards the enhancement of fungal productivity in large-scale cultivation processes. Moreover, physiological and genetic factors that increase or reduce the manifestation of strain degeneration in C. militaris are outlined. Finally, methodologies for developing protocols to be used in C. militaris functional biology studies are discussed.

A Systematic Review of the Biological Effects of Cordycepin

We conducted a systematic review of the literature on the effects of cordycepin on cell survival and proliferation, inflammation, signal transduction and animal models. A total of 1204 publications on cordycepin were found by the cut-off date of 1 February 2021. After application of the exclusion criteria, 791 papers remained. These were read and data on the chosen subjects were extracted. We found 192 papers on the effects of cordycepin on cell survival and proliferation and calculated a median inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 135 µM. Cordycepin consistently repressed cell migration (26 papers) and cellular inflammation (53 papers). Evaluation of 76 papers on signal transduction indicated consistently reduced PI3K/mTOR/AKT and ERK signalling and activation of AMPK. In contrast, the effects of cordycepin on the p38 and Jun kinases were variable, as were the effects on cell cycle arrest (53 papers), suggesting these are cell-specific responses. The examination of 150 animal studies indicated that purified cordycepin has many potential therapeutic effects, including the reduction of tumour growth (37 papers), repression of pain and inflammation (9 papers), protecting brain function (11 papers), improvement of respiratory and cardiac conditions (8 and 19 papers) and amelioration of metabolic disorders (8 papers). Nearly all these data are consistent with cordycepin mediating its therapeutic effects through activating AMPK, inhibiting PI3K/mTOR/AKT and repressing the inflammatory response. We conclude that cordycepin has excellent potential as a lead for drug development, especially for age-related diseases. In addition, we discuss the remaining issues around the mechanism of action, toxicity and biodistribution of cordycepin.

Improvement of cordycepin production by an isolated Paecilomyces hepiali mutant from combinatorial mutation breeding and medium screening

Cordycepin is a major bioactive compound found in Cordyceps sinensis that exhibits a broad spectrum of biological activities. Here a Paecilomyces hepiali OR-1 strain was initially isolated from plateau soil for the bioproduction of cordycepin. Subsequently, strain modification including ⁶⁰Co γ-ray and ultraviolet irradiation were employed to increase the cordycepin titer, resulted in a high-yield mutant strain P. hepiali ZJB18001 with the cordycepin content of 0.61 mg/g_DCW, showing a 2.3-fold to that from the wild strain (0.26 mg/g_DCW). Furthermore, medium screening based on Box-Behnken design and the response surface methodology facilitated the enhancement of cordycepin yield to the value of 0.96 mg/g_DCW at 25 °C for 5 days in submerged cultivation with an optimized medium composition. The high cordycepin yield, rapid growth rate and stable genetic characteristics of P. hepiali ZJB18001 are beneficial in terms of costs and time for the industrialization of cordycepin production.

Synthesis of cordycepin: Current scenario and future perspectives

Cordyceps genus, such as C. militaris and C. kyushuensis, is a source of a rare traditional Chinese medicine that has been used for the treatment of numerous chronic and malignant diseases. Cordycepin, 3'-deoxyadenosine, is a major active compound found in most Cordyceps. Cordycepin exhibits a variety of biological activities, including anti-tumor, immunomodulation, antioxidant, and anti-aging, among others, which could be applied in health products, medicine, cosmeceutical etc. fields. This review focuses on the synthesis methods for cordycepin. The current methods for cordycepin synthesis involve chemical synthesis, microbial fermentation, in vitro synthesis and biosynthesis; however, some defects are unavoidable and the production is still far from the demand of cordycepin. For the future study of cordycepin synthesis, based on the illumination of cordycepin biosynthesis pathway, genetical engineering of the Cordyceps strain or introducing microbes by virtue of synthetic biology will be the great potential strategies for cordycepin synthesis. This review will aid the future synthesis of the valuable cordycepin.

Novel liquid fermentation medium of Cordyceps militaris and optimization of hydrothermal reflux extraction of cordycepin

In this study, we developed a novel liquid fermentation medium of Cordyceps militaris using pupa powder and wheat bran as nitrogen resources instead of the traditionally used peptone. This process not only reduced the cost by approximately 50%, but increased production by over 30%. Then, we explored a method to extract and purify cordycepin by combining hydrothermal reflux extraction with macroporous resin adsorption, which is inexpensive and suitable for the industrial production. The optimum conditions for hydrothermal reflux were extracting three times at 95 °C with 1:10 sample-to-water ratio, and the cordycepin purity with macroporous resin HPD-100 reached 95.23%.[Formula: see text].

Therapeutic Potential and Biological Applications of Cordycepin and Metabolic Mechanisms in Cordycepin-Producing Fungi

Cordycepin (3′-deoxyadenosine), a cytotoxic nucleoside analogue found in Cordyceps militaris, has attracted much attention due to its therapeutic potential and biological value. Cordycepin interacts with multiple medicinal targets associated with cancer, tumor, inflammation, oxidant, polyadenylation of mRNA, etc. The investigation of the medicinal drug actions supports the discovery of novel targets and the development of new drugs to enhance the therapeutic potency and reduce toxicity. Cordycepin may be of great value owing to its medicinal potential as an external drug, such as in cosmeceutical, traumatic, antalgic and muscle strain applications. In addition, the biological application of cordycepin, for example, as a ligand, has been used to uncover molecular structures. Notably, studies that investigated the metabolic mechanisms of cordycepin-producing fungi have yielded significant information related to the biosynthesis of high levels of cordycepin. Here, we summarized the medicinal targets, biological applications, cytotoxicity, delivery carriers, stability, and pros/cons of cordycepin in clinical applications, as well as described the metabolic mechanisms of cordycepin in cordycepin-producing fungi. We posit that new approaches, including single-cell analysis, have the potential to enhance medicinal potency and unravel all facets of metabolic mechanisms of cordycepin in Cordyceps militaris.

Alternative metabolic routes in channeling xylose to cordycepin production of Cordyceps militaris identified by comparative transcriptome analysis

The responsive mechanism of C. militaris TBRC7358 on xylose utilization was investigated by comparative analysis of transcriptomes, growth kinetics and cordycepin productions. The result showed that the culture grown on xylose exhibited high production yield of cordycepin on dry biomass. Comparing xylose to other carbon sources, a set of significantly up-regulated genes in xylose were enriched in pentose and glucuronate interconversion, and cordycepin biosynthesis. After validating up-regulated genes using quantitative real-time PCR, interestingly, putative alternative 3'-AMP-associated metabolic route on cordycepin biosynthesis was identified. Through reporter metabolites analysis of C. militaris, significant metabolites (e.g., AMP, glycine and L-glutamate) were identified guiding involvement of growth and cordycepin production. These findings suggested that there was a cooperative mechanism in transcriptional control of the supplying precursors pool directed towards the cordycepin biosynthesis through main and putative alternative metabolic routes for leverage of cell growth and cordycepin production on xylose of C. militaris strain TBRC7358.

Enhancing cordycepin production in liquid static cultivation of Cordyceps militaris by adding vegetable oils as the secondary carbon source

This study evaluated different vegetable oils as the second carbon source in liquid static culture of Cordyceps militaris in terms of mycelial growth and cordycepin production. The maximum mycelial concentration and cordycepin production were observed under cottonseed oil and peanut oil induction, respectively. In the condition of adding 20 g/L of peanut oil at Day 0, the final concentration of cordycepin reached to the highest, about 5.29 g/L, which was about 3.17 times higher than that of the control. The qRT-PCR and enzyme activity analysis confirmed that addition of peanut oil up-regulated the expression of the genes encoding glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and isocitrate lyase, as well as the genes in the cordycepin biosynthesis pathway, cns1 and cns2, during the cultivation in C. militaris.

Cordycepin: A Biotherapeutic Molecule from Medicinal Mushroom

Cordyceps is one of the most well-known mushroom with numerous bioactive compounds possess wide range of biotherapeutic activities. This mushroom has been used for many years as medicinal food particularly in China and in different regions of south East Asia. Cordycepin is a nucleoside compound extracted from different species of Cordyceps and considered as one of the most important bioactive metabolites of this fungus. This low molecular weight compound exhibit several medicinal functions as anticancer, antitumor, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, immunomodulatory agent. In this chapter we reviewed recent published research on the cordycepin chemistry, production, extraction, isolation, purification, biotherapeutic activities and applications.

Separation of cordycepin from Cordyceps militaris fermentation supernatant using preparative HPLC and evaluation of its antibacterial activity as an NAD+-dependent DNA ligase inhibitor

Cordycepin exhibits various bio-activities, including anticancer, antibacterial, antiviral and immune regulation activities, and is a significant focus of research. However, the preparation of high-purity cordycepin remains challenging. Also, the molecular target with which cordycepin interacts to cause an antibacterial effect remains unknown. In the present study, cordycepin was prepared by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (prep-HPLC) and the purity obtained was 99.6%, indicating that this technique may be useful for the large-scale isolation of cordycepin in the future. The results of computational molecular docking analysis indicated that the interaction energy between cordycepin and NAD+-dependent DNA ligase (LigA) was lower than that between cordycepin and other common antibacterial targets. The highly pure cordycepin obtained by prep-HPLC demonstrated inhibitory activity against LigA from various bacteria in vitro. In conclusion, cordycepin may be useful as a broad-spectrum antibiotic targeting LigA in various bacteria.

Development of tea tree oil-loaded liposomal formulation using response surface methodology

The aim of this study is to prepare tea tree oil liposome (TTOL) and optimize the preparation condition by single factor experiment and statistical design. TTOL was prepared using a thin-film hydration with the combination of sonication method and the preparation conditions of TTOL were optimized with response surface methodology (RSM). The optimal preparation conditions for TTOL by response surface methodology were as follows: the mass ratio of PC and Cho 5.51, TTO concentration 1.21% (v/v) and Tween 80 concentration 0.79% (v/v). The response surface analysis showed that the significant (p < 0.05) second-order polynomial regression equations successfully fitted for all dependent variables with no significant (p > 0.05) lack of fit for the reduced models. Furthermore, the interaction of the mass ratio of PC/Cho and TTO concentration had a significant effect. The amounts of Tween 80 required were also reduced with RSM. Under these conditions, the experimental encapsulation efficiency of TTOL was 97.81 ± 0.33%, which was close with the predicted value. Therefore, the optimized preparation condition was very reliable. The increased entrapment efficiency would significantly improve the TTO stability and bioavailability.

Identification of the Genes Involved in the Fruiting Body Production and Cordycepin Formation of Cordyceps militaris Fungus

A mutant library of Cordyceps militaris was constructed by improved Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation and screened for degradation features. Six mutants with altered characters in in vitro and in vivo fruiting body production, and cordycepin formation were found to contain a single copy T-DNA. T-DNA flanking sequences of these mutants were identified by thermal asymmetric interlaced-PCR approach. ATP-dependent helicase, cytochrome oxidase subunit I and ubiquitin-like activating enzyme were involved in in vitro fruiting body production, serine/threonine phosphatase involved in in vivo fruiting body production, while glucose-methanol-choline oxidoreductase and telomerase reverse transcriptase involved in cordycepin formation. These genes were analyzed by bioinformatics methods, and their molecular function and biology process were speculated by Gene Ontology (GO) analysis. The results provided useful information for the control of culture degeneration in commercial production of C. militaris.