5
Conclusion
Lichens are very typical symbiotic organisms, which can be found everywhere
around the world and dominantly present in 8% of earth’s land surface. Due to the
fact that they belong to the slowest growing organisms, they are very important and
interesting because of their secondary metabolites. One of the first descriptions of
uses is from time of early Chinese and Egyptian civilizations.
Since the sixteenth century, lichens have been used in the perfume and cosmetic
industries. They are attractive also for their typical color hence used as dyes. Lichen
secondary compounds are studied for more than one hundred years for their pharmaceutical, biological, and ecological potential, which was described in many studies.
Based on the pathways how lichen secondary metabolites are produced, the
acetate-polymalonate pathway is unique for lichens. Most of bioactive compounds
are synthetized by this pathway, and their biological properties are very promising
and still the aim of study around the world. In this chapter, we showed all three
pathways, which can serve for better understanding of synthesis of lichen compounds. Main groups that belong to the pathways are also described as well as their
typical secondary compounds with their pharmaceutical, biological, and ecological
uses. It is evident that secondary compounds of lichens have wide area where they
can be applied.
Approximately 1000 secondary metabolites of lichens were discovered and
described. Most of them are solely present in lichens. Their antiproliferative, antibacterial, antiviral, allelopathic, antiherbivore, UV-protective, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic potential is evident. Lichens are still source of
many bioactive compounds, which application is still in process of research.
Acknowledgments We thank to Irene Lichtscheidl for providing the imaging equipment at Core
Facility Cell Imaging and Ultrastructure Research and Marianna Gazdíková for critical reading and
reviewing this manuscript. This work was supported by Aktion Österreich – Slowakei, grant from
Slovak Grant Agency VEGA 1/0792/16, grant KEGA- 012UPJŠ-4/2016, and grant VVGS-PF2018-765.
References
1. Taylor TN, Taylor EL (1993) The biology and evolution of fossil plants. Prentice Hall,
Englewood Cliffs
2. Atsatt PR (1991) Fungi and the origin of land plants. In: Margulis L, Fester R (eds) Symbiosis
as a source of evolutionary innovation. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA/London
3. Newsham KK, Fitter AH, Watkinson AR (1995) Arbuscular mycorrhiza protect an annual
grass from root pathogenic fungi in the field. J Ecol 83:991–1000
4. Selosse MA, Le Tacon F (1998) The land flora: a phototroph-fungus partnership? Trees
13:5–20
5. Hawksworth DL, Kirk PM, Sutton BC, Pegler DN (1995) Ainsworth and Bisby’s dictionary of
the fungi, 8th edn. CAB International, Wallingford
6. Kosanić M, Ranković B (2015) Lichen secondary metabolites as potential antibiotic agents. In:
Ranković B (ed) Lichen secondary metabolites bioactive properties and pharmaceutical
204
M. Goga et al.
Conclusion
Lichens are very typical symbiotic organisms, which can be found everywhere
around the world and dominantly present in 8% of earth’s land surface. Due to the
fact that they belong to the slowest growing organisms, they are very important and
interesting because of their secondary metabolites. One of the first descriptions of
uses is from time of early Chinese and Egyptian civilizations.
Since the sixteenth century, lichens have been used in the perfume and cosmetic
industries. They are attractive also for their typical color hence used as dyes. Lichen
secondary compounds are studied for more than one hundred years for their pharmaceutical, biological, and ecological potential, which was described in many studies.
Based on the pathways how lichen secondary metabolites are produced, the
acetate-polymalonate pathway is unique for lichens. Most of bioactive compounds
are synthetized by this pathway, and their biological properties are very promising
and still the aim of study around the world. In this chapter, we showed all three
pathways, which can serve for better understanding of synthesis of lichen compounds. Main groups that belong to the pathways are also described as well as their
typical secondary compounds with their pharmaceutical, biological, and ecological
uses. It is evident that secondary compounds of lichens have wide area where they
can be applied.
Approximately 1000 secondary metabolites of lichens were discovered and
described. Most of them are solely present in lichens. Their antiproliferative, antibacterial, antiviral, allelopathic, antiherbivore, UV-protective, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic potential is evident. Lichens are still source of
many bioactive compounds, which application is still in process of research.
Acknowledgments We thank to Irene Lichtscheidl for providing the imaging equipment at Core
Facility Cell Imaging and Ultrastructure Research and Marianna Gazdíková for critical reading and
reviewing this manuscript. This work was supported by Aktion Österreich – Slowakei, grant from
Slovak Grant Agency VEGA 1/0792/16, grant KEGA- 012UPJŠ-4/2016, and grant VVGS-PF2018-765.
References
1. Taylor TN, Taylor EL (1993) The biology and evolution of fossil plants. Prentice Hall,
Englewood Cliffs
2. Atsatt PR (1991) Fungi and the origin of land plants. In: Margulis L, Fester R (eds) Symbiosis
as a source of evolutionary innovation. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA/London
3. Newsham KK, Fitter AH, Watkinson AR (1995) Arbuscular mycorrhiza protect an annual
grass from root pathogenic fungi in the field. J Ecol 83:991–1000
4. Selosse MA, Le Tacon F (1998) The land flora: a phototroph-fungus partnership? Trees
13:5–20
5. Hawksworth DL, Kirk PM, Sutton BC, Pegler DN (1995) Ainsworth and Bisby’s dictionary of
the fungi, 8th edn. CAB International, Wallingford
6. Kosanić M, Ranković B (2015) Lichen secondary metabolites as potential antibiotic agents. In:
Ranković B (ed) Lichen secondary metabolites bioactive properties and pharmaceutical
204
M. Goga et al.