the authors considered that this could be a factor that might have influenced the
hypoglycemic and hypolipodemic observed effect.
6.2.3 Antimicrobial
The discovery of penicillin derived from Penicillium fungi, formally attributed to
Alexander Fleming in 1929, (Fleming 1929), and the first cure of nenonatal
patients with eye gonorrheal infections with this compound by Cecil George Pain,
in Sheffield, England in 1930 (Wainwright and Swan 1986), opened an increasing
interest of the study of fungal compounds with antibiotic properties. Currently,
there has been an increasing interest in the search of novel fungal antimicrobial
agents, particularly due to: (i) the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance of
pathogenic microorganisms; (ii) the numerous side effects of some antibiotics; and
(iii) the concern of appearance of multidrug resistance microbial infections (Alves
et al. 2012; Alanis 2005; Barranco et al. 2010; Bala et al. 2011). From an ecological perspective, the production of antibiotic compounds is fundamental for the
mycelium of EEMs to survive in natural conditions, due to the fact that they have
to permanently compete with bacteria, fungi, virus, and other soil microorganisms.
For this reason, it is not surprising that, in the last decades different antimicrobial
compounds have been found in extracts of mycelium or sporomes of edible EEMs
including bioactive compounds active against Escherichia coli, Enterobacter
aerogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, S. epidermidis,
Bacillus subtilis, and Candida albicans. The source of these extracts has come
from widely consumed EEMs included in the genera Amanita, Cantharellus,
Hydnum, Hygrophorus, Rhizopogon, Sarcodon, Suillus, or Tricholoma (Table 6.2).
It has been found that different phenolic compounds, including dihydroxybenzoic
and protocatechuic acids, could be used as antimicrobial agents, specifically
against microorganisms resistant to commercial antibiotics (Alves et al. 2013).
Extracts from sporomes of the edible EEMs Ramaria botrytis and R. delica have
shown for example a bactericide effect against clinical isolates of Pasteurella
multocida, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Streptococcus pyogenes resistant to
different conventional antibiotics (Alves et al. 2012). In addition, recently, it has
been isolated from the sporomes of the edible ectomycorrhizal coral mushroom
Ramaria cystidiophora a novel butenolide named ramariolide with antimicrobial
activity against the pathogenic bacterial species Mycobacterium tuberculosis,
considered the causative agent of most cases of tuberculosis (Centko et al. 2012),
which shows the potential of this field of research. In relation to bioactive antiviral
agents, from EEMs, it has been found that the truffle Tuber borchii, or whitish
truffle mainly found and highly appreciated as food in Central Italy, contains a
protein named cyanovirin-N, which has the ability to block virus entry into target
cells, therefore having also potential use as inhibitor of human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) activity (Percudani et al. 2005) More recently, the solution structures
for three recently discovered cyanovirin-N homolog family of lectines has been
178
J. Pérez-Moreno and M. Martínez-Reyes
hypoglycemic and hypolipodemic observed effect.
6.2.3 Antimicrobial
The discovery of penicillin derived from Penicillium fungi, formally attributed to
Alexander Fleming in 1929, (Fleming 1929), and the first cure of nenonatal
patients with eye gonorrheal infections with this compound by Cecil George Pain,
in Sheffield, England in 1930 (Wainwright and Swan 1986), opened an increasing
interest of the study of fungal compounds with antibiotic properties. Currently,
there has been an increasing interest in the search of novel fungal antimicrobial
agents, particularly due to: (i) the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance of
pathogenic microorganisms; (ii) the numerous side effects of some antibiotics; and
(iii) the concern of appearance of multidrug resistance microbial infections (Alves
et al. 2012; Alanis 2005; Barranco et al. 2010; Bala et al. 2011). From an ecological perspective, the production of antibiotic compounds is fundamental for the
mycelium of EEMs to survive in natural conditions, due to the fact that they have
to permanently compete with bacteria, fungi, virus, and other soil microorganisms.
For this reason, it is not surprising that, in the last decades different antimicrobial
compounds have been found in extracts of mycelium or sporomes of edible EEMs
including bioactive compounds active against Escherichia coli, Enterobacter
aerogenes, Salmonella typhimurium, P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, S. epidermidis,
Bacillus subtilis, and Candida albicans. The source of these extracts has come
from widely consumed EEMs included in the genera Amanita, Cantharellus,
Hydnum, Hygrophorus, Rhizopogon, Sarcodon, Suillus, or Tricholoma (Table 6.2).
It has been found that different phenolic compounds, including dihydroxybenzoic
and protocatechuic acids, could be used as antimicrobial agents, specifically
against microorganisms resistant to commercial antibiotics (Alves et al. 2013).
Extracts from sporomes of the edible EEMs Ramaria botrytis and R. delica have
shown for example a bactericide effect against clinical isolates of Pasteurella
multocida, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Streptococcus pyogenes resistant to
different conventional antibiotics (Alves et al. 2012). In addition, recently, it has
been isolated from the sporomes of the edible ectomycorrhizal coral mushroom
Ramaria cystidiophora a novel butenolide named ramariolide with antimicrobial
activity against the pathogenic bacterial species Mycobacterium tuberculosis,
considered the causative agent of most cases of tuberculosis (Centko et al. 2012),
which shows the potential of this field of research. In relation to bioactive antiviral
agents, from EEMs, it has been found that the truffle Tuber borchii, or whitish
truffle mainly found and highly appreciated as food in Central Italy, contains a
protein named cyanovirin-N, which has the ability to block virus entry into target
cells, therefore having also potential use as inhibitor of human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) activity (Percudani et al. 2005) More recently, the solution structures
for three recently discovered cyanovirin-N homolog family of lectines has been
178
J. Pérez-Moreno and M. Martínez-Reyes