Chemical Diversity and Antimicrobial Potential of Cultivable Fungi from Deep-Sea Sediments of the Gulf of Mexico

A collection of 29 cultivable fungal strains isolated from deep-sea sediments of the Gulf of Mexico were cultivated under the one strain, many compounds approach to explore their chemical diversity and antimicrobial potential. From the 87 extracts tested, over 50% showed antimicrobial activity, and the most active ones were those from cultures grown at 4 degrees C in darkness for 60 days (resembling deep-sea temperature). PCA analysis of the LC-MS data of all the extracts confirmed that culture temperature is the primary factor in the variation of the 4462 metabolite features, accounting for 21.3% of the variation. The bioactivity-guided and conventional chemical studies of selected fungal strains allowed the identification of several active and specialized metabolites. Finally, metabolomics analysis by GNPS molecular networking and manual dereplication revealed the biosynthetic potential of these species to produce interesting chemistry. This work uncovers the chemical and biological study of marine-derived fungal strains from deep-sea sediments of the Gulf of Mexico.

Automated summary

This study isolated and cultivated 29 fungal strains from deep-sea sediments of the Gulf of Mexico, exploring their chemical diversity and antimicrobial potential under different temperature and light conditions. Analysis of LC-MS data revealed that culture temperature is the primary factor influencing the variation of metabolite features. Additionally, bioactivity-guided and conventional chemical studies identified several active and specialized metabolites from selected fungal strains, demonstrating the biosynthetic potential of these marine-derived fungi.