Antimicrobial activity of submerged cultures of Chilean basidiomycetes

This study is part of a screening program aimed at searching for bioactive metabolites from Chilean basidiomycetes. Submerged cultivation of fungal mycelia in liquid media was evaluated for antimicrobial activity. A total of 148 strains were obtained in vitro. The extracts produced from submerged cultures were evaluated against bacteria and fungi. In the primary antimicrobial assay, approximately 60% of the extracts presented positive biological activity. The highest frequencies of active strains were from the orders Agaricales (31.0%), Polyporales (20.6%), Sterales (18.3%), Boletales (11.4%), and Cortinariales (9.1%). Antifungal activity was more pronounced than antibacterial activity. Twelve extracts that exhibited strong antimicrobial activity showed minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 50 µL/mL against Bacillus brevis and 25∼50 µL/mL against Penicillium notatum and Paecilomyces variotii. The biological activity of some strains did not vary considerably, regardless of the substrate or collection site whereas, for others, it showed marked variations. Differences in antimicrobial activities observed in the different fungal genera suggested that the ability to produce bioactive compounds is not homogenously distributed among basidiomycetes. The information obtained from this study reveals that Chilean basidiomycetes are able to generate small and/or large variations in the normal pathway of compounds production. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate this biological and chemical wealth, which could be an unsuspected reservoir of new and potentially useful molecules.