Fungi: Promising source of chemical diversity
Sunday, May 29, 2016 - 21:01
in Biology & Nature
The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus produces a group of previously unknown natural products. With reference to plant isoquinoline alkaloids, these substances have been named fumisoquins. Researchers have now discovered the novel substances while studying the fungal genome. This study shows that fungi and plants developed biosynthetic pathways for these complex molecules independently of each other. These findings make Aspergillus an interesting target for the discovery of novel drugs and their biotechnological production.