Project Details
Projekt
Cytolabs Project: Discovery and Broad Biological Characterization of New Cytochalasans and Curated Compound Library
Applicant
Professor Dr. Marc Stadler
Subject Area
Biological and Biomimetic Chemistry
Organismic Interactions, Chemical Ecology and Microbiomes of Plant Systems
Organismic Interactions, Chemical Ecology and Microbiomes of Plant Systems
Term
since 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 438841444
Our previous work has constituted an important starting point for initiation of the current researchers group because we have recently isolated and characterized numerous cytochalasans from fruitbodies and cultures of fungal species, most of which belong to the Xylariales and other orders of the Class Sordariomycetes. Their biological activities and their biosynthesis were already evaluated with other members in the Cytolabs consortium, leading to several joint publications. In the proposed researchers group we will continue to interact closely with all project partners.The role of our subproject will be to isolate and identify further natural cytochalasans using preparative HPLC and spectral methods (NMR,MS) and subject them to a broad evaluation of their biological activities, using established bioassays for determination of antimicrobial (including anti-biofilm), nematicidal and cytotoxic effects. Compounds from other subprojects including synthetic and semisynthetic derivatives will be included in this workflow. On the other hand, particularly interesting variants of this compound class will be produced biotechnologically in sufficient quantities for semisynthesis and for in-depth studies of their mode of action in biological system, using the in-house fermentation and downstream processing facilities that allow for production of natural products in up to multi gram scale. The scale up procedures will be carried out using both wild type strains resulting from our own collaborations in an international framework involving scientists from around the world, as well as heterologous production strains and mutants that will be provided by the Cox group. In parallel, a compound library and a corresponding database will be created in our lab to maintain a good overview on biological activities and we will distribute compounds within the consortium and to external collaborators. This can embark on an existing HPLC-DAD/MS based dereplication library, to which all results on bioactivities, taxonomy of the producer strains and other important information will be added in the course of the project.
DFG Programme
Research Units
