Characterization of a red pigment from Fusarium chlamydosporum exhibiting selective cytotoxicity against human breast cancer MCF-7 cell lines

Application of microbial pigments in the pharmaceutical industry: current status and opportunities

Microbial pigments are a diverse group of compounds synthesized by microorganisms, which have attracted considerable scientific interest due to their multifaceted biological properties and significant potential in pharmaceutical applications. These pigments demonstrate various activities, including antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects, often mediated by intricate interactions with cellular components such as membranes, proteins, and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). For example, antimicrobial pigments can compromise membrane integrity or inhibit protein synthesis, while anti-inflammatory pigments modulate key signaling pathways involved in inflammation. This review explores the different microorganisms capable of producing different pigments. Furthermore, it examines the technological applications, including their potential use in pharmaceuticals and their current commercial use. In addition, clinical cases demonstrating the efficacy of microbial pigments in various therapeutic contexts will be presented. Moving forward, microbial pigments are poised to play a pivotal role in drug development and other biomedical applications, offering some sustainable solutions to various challenges in medicine and industry.

Pigment Production by Pseudofusicoccum sp.: Extract Production, Cytotoxicity Activity, and Diketopiperazines Identified

Filamentous fungi are among the most commonly used microorganisms for producing various metabolites including dyes. Ensuring the safety of products derived from microorganisms is always essential. In this study, the isolated fungus was identified as Pseudofusicoccum sp., a producer of the burgundy pigment through submerged fermentation. The fungus exhibited enhanced growth and pigment production under yellow light. The extract obtained showed no cytotoxicity in the tested cell lines (HepG2, SCC4, BJ, and MRC-5). Among the compounds isolated and identified through NMR analysis, cyclo(L-Pro-L-Val) and cyclo(L-Leu-L-Pro) (diketopiperazines) had been previously reported in foods and are known to be produced by various organisms, with several beneficial biological activities. This identified fungus represents a promising source of biopigments with a crude extract that is non-cytotoxic. Additionally, the isolated compounds exhibit significant biological properties, such as antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant activities, highlighting their potential as natural pigments for use in food products.

Fungal Pigments: Carotenoids, Riboflavin, and Polyketides with Diverse Applications

Natural pigments and colorants have seen a substantial increase in use over the last few decades due to their eco-friendly and safe properties. Currently, customer preferences for more natural products are driving the substitution of natural pigments for synthetic colorants. Filamentous fungi, particularly ascomycetous fungi (Monascus, Fusarium, Penicillium, and Aspergillus), have been shown to produce secondary metabolites containing a wide variety of pigments, including β-carotene, melanins, azaphilones, quinones, flavins, ankaflavin, monascin, anthraquinone, and naphthoquinone. These pigments produce a variety of colors and tints, including yellow, orange, red, green, purple, brown, and blue. Additionally, these pigments have a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities, including immunomodulatory, anticancer, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiproliferative activities. This review provides an in-depth overview of fungi gathered from diverse sources and lists several probable fungi capable of producing a variety of color hues. The second section discusses how to classify coloring compounds according to their chemical structure, characteristics, biosynthetic processes, application, and present state. Once again, we investigate the possibility of employing fungal polyketide pigments as food coloring, as well as the toxicity and carcinogenicity of particular pigments. This review explores how advanced technologies such as metabolic engineering and nanotechnology can be employed to overcome obstacles associated with the manufacture of mycotoxin-free, food-grade fungal pigments.

Production of a Polyketide Pigment by Fusarium chlamydosporum

The present study was focused to study the production of secondary metabolite by the fungus, F. chlamydosporum on a non-defined medium with less concentration of nitrogen; the organic nitrogen source being peptone and beef extract. In this context, we have been successful in extracting a polyketide pigment from the fungus by using the homogenization technique. The pigments thus extracted were subjected to various purification techniques via thin layer chromatography, column chromatography, UV-visible spectrophotometry, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and finally molecular determination by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). The polyketide red pigment was finally characterized and identified to be fusarubin following which its cytotoxicity was evaluated in vitro by using normal lung fibroblast cell lines (MRC-5). In the verge of researchers identifying novel compounds for various applications, the production of fusarubin by the fungus can be a major breakthrough as fusarubin has been investigated to exhibit many pharmacological activities. Though fusarubin is reported to be produced by other Fusarium species, this is the foremost study on the production of fusarubin by F. chlamydosporum; the composition of the culture medium is also unique. The production of this polyketide probably correlates in the pathogenesis of F. chlamydosporum as studies comment on this fungus as an opportunistic pathogen.

Safety Evaluation of Fungal Pigments for Food Applications

Pigments play a major role in many industries. Natural colors are usually much safer when compared to synthetic colors and may even possess some medicinal benefits. Synthetic colors are economical and can easily be produced compared to natural colors. In addition, raw plant materials for natural colors are limited and season dependent. Microorganisms provide an alternative source for natural colors and, among them, fungi provide a wide range of natural colorants that could easily be produced cheaply and with high yield. Along with pigment, some microbial strains are also capable of producing a number of mycotoxins. The commercial use of microbial pigments relies on the safety of colorants. This review provides a toxicity evaluation of pigments from fungal origins for food application.

Fungal Pigments and Their Prospects in Different Industries

The public's demand for natural, eco-friendly, and safe pigments is significantly increasing in the current era. Natural pigments, especially fungal pigments, are receiving more attention and seem to be in high demand worldwide. The immense advantages of fungal pigments over other natural or synthetic pigments have opened new avenues in the market for a wide range of applications in different industries. In addition to coloring properties, other beneficial attributes of fungal pigments, such as antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activity, have expanded their use in different sectors. This review deals with the study of fungal pigments and their applications and sheds light on future prospects and challenges in the field of fungal pigments. Furthermore, the possible application of fungal pigments in the textile industry is also addressed.

Neotypification of Fusarium chlamydosporum - a reappraisal of a clinically important species complex

Fusarium chlamydosporum represents a well-defined morpho-species of both phytopathological and clinical importance. Presently, five phylo-species lacking Latin binomials have been resolved in the F. chlamydosporum species complex (FCSC). Naming these phylo-species is complicated due to the lack of type material for F. chlamydosporum. Over the years a number of F. chlamydosporum isolates (which were formerly identified based on morphology only) have been accessioned in the culture collection of the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute. The present study was undertaken to correctly identify these 'F. chlamydosporum' isolates based on multilocus phylogenetic inference supported by morphological characteristics. Closer scrutiny of the metadata associated with one of these isolates allowed us to propose a neotype for F. chlamydosporum. Phylogenetic inference revealed the presence of nine phylo-species within the FCSC in this study. Of these, eight could be provided with names supported by subtle morphological characters. In addition, a new species, as F. nodosum, is introduced in the F. sambucinum species complex and F. chlamydosporum var. fuscum is raised to species level, as F. coffeatum, in the F. incarnatum-equiseti species complex (FIESC).