Investigação química e biológica de Penicillium endofíticos produtores de alcalóides e de moléculas com potencial biotecnológico

Abstract

The Amazon region has one of the richest biodiversities on the planet, and in spite of that, we know little about it, which makes new studies focused on the knowledge of new species in the region extremely important. Fungi, among them, endophytes, have already shown to be a promising source of bioactive compounds as potential drugs. One of the most promising genera for the production of secondary metabolites is Penicillium, which has already been widely used in several industrial sectors due to its high production of metabolites and the rapid growth, with this, this work sought to contribute with relevant data on the morphology, molecular biology and production of secondary metabolites of endophytic microorganisms from medicinal plants in the Amazon of the genus Penicillium. In chapter I, we can observe the history of the genus as well as the tools used to study it taxonomically. Chapter II presents the polyphasic study carried out with 29 species of Penicillium from LabMicra work collection. With the molecular data, it was possible to identify all 29 strains, seven different species of Penicillium and one specie of Talaromyces, and group the strains by species. This analysis, together with the chemical profile and morphology, helped to understand the relationship of the strains, as well as the influence that the host plant has at both chemical and molecular levels. Finally, this chapter showed that all three techniques combined proved to be an effective method for identifying even species close to the genus Penicillium. Chapter III presents the chemical study carried out with 25 species of Penicillium, demonstrating the potential of several endophytic strains from plants in the Amazon as producers of alkaloids, including P. paxilli, P. rubens and P. oxalicum. In addition, the proposed approach based on the chemical profile by ESI-MS in combination with PCA analysis provided a simple and effective strategy to discriminate strains of Penicillium capable of producing different types of alkaloids with biotechnological potential. Chapter IV suggested that paxilline and their related compounds can play a key role as inhibitors of important nonstructural proteins (nsp) for SARS-CoV-2 and dengue viruses. Obviously, further researches are necessary to certify the docking results reported here, as well as the adequate application of these substances against COVID-19 and dengue fever. Overall, this work contributed with the knowledge of the endophytic strains of the genus Penicillium from Amazon and showed its potencial as secondary metabolites producers.