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Citation for Study 14945

Citation title: "Sloth fur as a novel source of fungi with potent anti-parasitic, anti-cancer and anti-bacterial bioactivity".

Study name: "Sloth fur as a novel source of fungi with potent anti-parasitic, anti-cancer and anti-bacterial bioactivity".

This study is part of submission 14945 (Status: Published).

Citation

Higginbotham S.J., Wong W.R., Linington R., Spadafora C., Iturrado L., & Arnold A.E. 2013. Sloth fur as a novel source of fungi with potent anti-parasitic, anti-cancer and anti-bacterial bioactivity. PLoS ONE, .

Authors

• Higginbotham S.J. (submitter)
• Wong W.R.
• Linington R.
• Spadafora C.
• Iturrado L.
• Arnold A.E.

Abstract

The extraordinary biological diversity of tropical forests harbors a rich chemical diversity with enormous potential as a source of novel bioactive compounds. Of particular interest are new environments for microbial discovery. Sloths -- mid-sized arboreal mammals commonly found in the lowland forests of Panama -- carry a wide variety of micro- and macro-organisms on their coarse outer fur. Here we report for the first time the isolation of diverse and bioactive strains of fungi, and their taxonomic placement, from sloth fur. Eighty-four fungi were isolated from the surface of sloth hair that was collected from living three-toed sloths (Bradypus variegatus, Bradypodidae) in Soberanía National Park, Republic of Panama. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a diverse group of ascomycetous fungi belonging to 28 distinct genotypes, several of which are divergent from previously known taxa. Seventy-four isolates were cultivated in liquid broth and crude extracts were tested for bioactivity in vitro. We found a broad range of activities against the parasites that cause malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) and Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi), and against the human MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Fifty fungal extracts were tested for antibacterial activity in a new antibiotic profile screen called BioMAP; of these, 20 were active against at least one bacterial strain, and one had an unusual pattern of bioactivity against Gram-negative bacteria that suggests a possible new mode of action. Together our results reveal the importance of exploring novel environments for bioactive fungi, and demonstrate for the first time the taxonomic composition and bioactivity of fungi from sloth fur.

Keywords

Mycology; fungal microbiome; sloth microbiome; drug discovery; antibacterial; antiparasitic; Chagas disease; malaria; cancer

External links

About this resource

• Canonical resource URI: http://purl.org/phylo/treebase/phylows/study/TB2:S14945
• Other versions: Nexus NeXML
• Show BibTeX reference

  		@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref22570,
  	 author = {Sarah Jane Higginbotham and Weng Ruh Wong and Roger  Linington and Carmenza  Spadafora and Liliana  Iturrado and A Elizabeth Arnold},
  	 title = {Sloth fur as a novel source of fungi with potent anti-parasitic, anti-cancer and anti-bacterial bioactivity},
  	 year = {2013},
  	 keywords = {Mycology; fungal microbiome; sloth microbiome; drug discovery; antibacterial; antiparasitic; Chagas disease; malaria; cancer},
  	 doi = {},
  	 url = {http://},
  	 pmid = {},
  	 journal = {PLoS ONE},
  	 volume = {},
  	 number = {},
  	 pages = {},
  	 abstract = {The extraordinary biological diversity of tropical forests harbors a rich chemical diversity with enormous potential as a source of novel bioactive compounds. Of particular interest are new environments for microbial discovery. Sloths -- mid-sized arboreal mammals commonly found in the lowland forests of Panama -- carry a wide variety of micro- and macro-organisms on their coarse outer fur. Here we report for the first time the isolation of diverse and bioactive strains of fungi, and their taxonomic placement, from sloth fur. Eighty-four fungi were isolated from the surface of sloth hair that was collected from living three-toed sloths (Bradypus variegatus, Bradypodidae) in Soberanía National Park, Republic of Panama. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a diverse group of ascomycetous fungi belonging to 28 distinct genotypes, several of which are divergent from previously known taxa. Seventy-four isolates were cultivated in liquid broth and crude extracts were tested for bioactivity in vitro. We found a broad range of activities against the parasites that cause malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) and Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi), and against the human MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Fifty fungal extracts were tested for antibacterial activity in a new antibiotic profile screen called BioMAP; of these, 20 were active against at least one bacterial strain, and one had an unusual pattern of bioactivity against Gram-negative bacteria that suggests a possible new mode of action. Together our results reveal the importance of exploring novel environments for bioactive fungi, and demonstrate for the first time the taxonomic composition and bioactivity of fungi from sloth fur. }
  }
  		

• Show RIS reference

  		TY  - JOUR
  ID  - 22570
  AU  - Higginbotham,Sarah Jane
  AU  - Wong,Weng Ruh
  AU  - Linington,Roger 
  AU  - Spadafora,Carmenza 
  AU  - Iturrado,Liliana 
  AU  - Arnold,A Elizabeth
  T1  - Sloth fur as a novel source of fungi with potent anti-parasitic, anti-cancer and anti-bacterial bioactivity
  PY  - 2013
  KW  - Mycology; fungal microbiome; sloth microbiome; drug discovery; antibacterial; antiparasitic; Chagas disease; malaria; cancer
  UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
  N2  - The extraordinary biological diversity of tropical forests harbors a rich chemical diversity with enormous potential as a source of novel bioactive compounds. Of particular interest are new environments for microbial discovery. Sloths -- mid-sized arboreal mammals commonly found in the lowland forests of Panama -- carry a wide variety of micro- and macro-organisms on their coarse outer fur. Here we report for the first time the isolation of diverse and bioactive strains of fungi, and their taxonomic placement, from sloth fur. Eighty-four fungi were isolated from the surface of sloth hair that was collected from living three-toed sloths (Bradypus variegatus, Bradypodidae) in Soberanía National Park, Republic of Panama. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a diverse group of ascomycetous fungi belonging to 28 distinct genotypes, several of which are divergent from previously known taxa. Seventy-four isolates were cultivated in liquid broth and crude extracts were tested for bioactivity in vitro. We found a broad range of activities against the parasites that cause malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) and Chagas disease (Trypanosoma cruzi), and against the human MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Fifty fungal extracts were tested for antibacterial activity in a new antibiotic profile screen called BioMAP; of these, 20 were active against at least one bacterial strain, and one had an unusual pattern of bioactivity against Gram-negative bacteria that suggests a possible new mode of action. Together our results reveal the importance of exploring novel environments for bioactive fungi, and demonstrate for the first time the taxonomic composition and bioactivity of fungi from sloth fur. 
  L3  - 
  JF  - PLoS ONE
  VL  - 
  IS  - 
  ER  -