Fungal Applications

Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality after cardiovascular disease, with an estimated 9.6 million cancer related deaths in 2018 (GBD 2015). Cancer is a multifactorial disease characterized by the loss of growth factors that control the proliferation and division of cells. These abnormal malignant cells can evade the tumour suppressor factors of the human immune system, then develop to tumours and destroy adjacent tissues (Saeidnia and Abdollahi 2014). There are several treatments for cancer, administered according to developmental state of the disease. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery and immunotherapy are all important elements of cancer treatment. However, while many cytotoxic agents are known to Science (which could in principle serve as chemotherapeutic agents), only few of them specifically target tumour cells and are less toxic to regular, healthy human [...]

Diabetes mellitus, also known simply as diabetes, is a chronic metabolic disorder (De Silva et al. 2012). People who suffer from diabetes cannot produce or effectively use insulin in the body. Due to this insulin imbalance, they have high amounts of glucose in their blood. There are two common types of diabetes, i.e. type 1 diabetes (insulin dependent diabetes mellitus) and type 2 diabetes (noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus). Patients with type 1 diabetes cannot produce insulin, due to the lack of functions of the insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas (Meier et al. 2005). They must take insulin continuously every day to stay alive. Type 1 diabetes mostly affects children and adolescent patients, and it represents 5–10% of total diabetes cases worldwide. Patients with type 2 diabetes cannot produce sufficient insulin [...]

Antibacterial antibiotics The term “antibiotics” is used in the literature with different definitions. The industry mainly use it for antibacterial agents, but the definition that we prefer here, which was adapted from the original one coined by Waksman (1947), i.e., an antibiotic is “a chemical substance, produced by micro-organisms (including fungi), which has the capacity to inhibit the growth of and even to destroy bacteria and other micro-organisms”. The natural functions of antibiotics can easily be explained, resulting from the high competition between fungi, bacteria, and other organisms in substrates such as soil, dung and plant debris. If a given organism has acquired the ability to produce a certain secondary metabolite by which it can kill the competing organisms that dwell in the same habitat, it is considered to possess [...]

Antimycotics and fungicides Whereas multi-resistant bacterial pathogens are very high on the agenda of both the press and funding agencies, relatively little attention is presently being paid to the fact that the number of resistant pathogenic fungi is also on the rise. This topic was treated by Hyde et al. (2018a), we refer to it for the most important and threatening human pathogenic fungal organisms. In fact, there are only a handful of efficient compound classes on the market that are used in antimycotic chemotherapy, including griseofulvin (6), which was already discovered by Grove et al. (1952). The newest class of antimycotics that were launched to the market are the echinocandins (e.g., pneumocandin B0 (7) (Denning 2002). The biosynthesis of these highly complex lipopeptides relies on PKS-NRPS hybrid gene clusters [...]

Health and mortality-debilitating diseases caused by viruses continue to cause serious global epidemics, especially in cases where vaccines and antiviral chemotherapies are insufficient or not available. The current state of virus related pandemics is also significantly limiting drug efficacy by the emergence of drug-resistant strains. Hence, there is an urgent need to identify and develop natural product-inspired drug leads that could help control viral infections. A plethora of potentially active natural products have been isolated from fungi and screened for antiviral activity, even though none of them has reached the market yet. This entry focuses on natural products exhibiting potent activity on selected human pathogenic viruses, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), influenza virus, herpes simplex virus (HSV), hepatitis virus and other human pathogenic viruses such as enterovirus-71, and [...]

Ectomycorrhizal association describes a structure that results from a mutualistic symbiosis between the roots of higher plants and root-inhabiting fungi. Within this symbiotic relationship, the role of the fungi is to help the host plants take up water and nutrients, receiving plant-derived carbohydrates from photosynthesis in return. About 6000 plant species in 145 genera and 26 families (approximately 5600 angiosperms and 285 gymnosperms) have been estimated to possess ectomycorrhizal symbiotic fungal partners (Brundrett 2009; Tedersoo et al. 2010). Ectomycorrhizal association helps both the fungi and their host plants to overcome environmental stresses caused by low nutrients, drought, disease, extreme temperatures and heavy metal contamination (Smith and Read 2008; Courty et al. 2010; Kipfer et al. 2012; Heilmann-Clausen et al. 2014). Moreover, ectomycorrhizae can improve soil structure and nutrients; protect the [...]

Ectomycorrhizal association describes a structure that results from a mutualistic symbiosis between the roots of higher plants and root-inhabiting fungi. Within this symbiotic relationship, the role of the fungi is to help the host plants take up water and nutrients, receiving plant-derived carbohydrates from photosynthesis in return. About 6000 plant species in 145 genera and 26 families (approximately 5600 angiosperms and 285 gymnosperms) have been estimated to possess ectomycorrhizal symbiotic fungal partners (Brundrett 2009; Tedersoo et al. 2010). Ectomycorrhizal association helps both the fungi and their host plants to overcome environmental stresses caused by low nutrients, drought, disease, extreme temperatures and heavy metal contamination (Smith and Read 2008; Courty et al. 2010; Kipfer et al. 2012; Heilmann-Clausen et al. 2014). Moreover, ectomycorrhizae can improve soil structure and nutrients; protect the [...]

The loss in productivity due to crop damage from insects represents a serious threat to the agricultural sector. The global crop loss due to insects contributed to losses of almost $470 billion each year (Culliney 2014), with the global expenditures on pesticides being in the range of $56 billion in 2012. Strikingly, of the $56 billion, only $2–3 billion was spent on biopesticides (Marrone 2014). In the USA, insecticides contributed to almost 14% of all pesticide expenditures (Sabarwal et al. 2018). The most common strategy for controlling insect invasions is the use of synthetic chemical pesticides, such as Chlorpyrifos, Acephate and Bifenthrin (Dai et al. 2019a). However, insecticidal resistance has become an undeniable phenomenon, and has led to the disastrous collapse of the pest control in many countries (Naqqash et [...]

Plant-parasitic nematodes are parasites which cause severe damage to many economically important crops such as tomatoes, potatoes and wheat. For example, around US $80 billion of yield losses are caused annually by damage from plant root–knot nematodes, such as M. javanica and M. incognita (Li et al. 2007). Nematicidal chemicals that were once rather effective, such as methyl bromide, have ultimately been banned because they are broad-spectrum biocides that kill all life in the soil and contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer, thereby causing grave problems to the environment. Therefore, in recent years there have been great efforts in both academia and industry to find ecologically viable alternatives. Nematophagous fungi are capable of controlling plant parasitic nematodes through antagonistic behaviour (Zaki and Siddiqui 1996). There are more than [...]

Fungal pathogens are the chief agent of plant disease, effecting severe agricultural losses worldwide (Hyde et al. 2014; Punja and Raj 2003; Strange and Scott 2005; Horbach et al. 2011). Agrochemicals play a significant role in plant disease management and ensure sustainable and productive agriculture systems. However, the intensive use of chemicals (determined by frequent and high dose of pesticides) has adverse effects on human health, ecosystem functioning, and agricultural sustainability (Anderson et al. 2004; Vinale et al. 2008; Suryanarayanan et al. 2016). Biocontrol is a strategy used to control plant pathogens, resulting in minimal impact to the environment (De Waard et al. 1993; Vinale et al. 2008). Endophytes reside asymptomatically within a plant for at least part of their life cycle (Carrol 1998; Huang et al. 2009; Sun et [...]