Mineração genômica e caracterização química de compostos antifúngicos em uma nova espécie amazônica de Periconia sp

Abstract

The genus Periconia (Periconiaceae, Pleosporales) comprises a diversity of fungal species with significant ecological and biotechnological importance, notable for the production of bioactive secondary metabolites. This dissertation presents a comprehensive review of the genus and describes a new species, Periconia cyanoamazonica sp. nov. Analysis of databases such as MycoBank indicates the occurrence of 194 valid Periconia species, with only 30.4% having available molecular data, highlighting a significant gap in the genetic knowledge of the genus. When evaluating the different barcodes used for the genus phylogeny (ITS, LSU, SSU, and Tef1), nucleotide diversity analysis showed ITS as the most variable marker (π = 0.073787). The chemical review identified 158 compounds, predominantly terpenes (50%) and polyketides (38%), with various biological activities. Genomic analysis of five Periconia species revealed considerable variation in genome size (39-55 Mb) and number of genes (11,027-18,854). P. cyanoamazonica was isolated in the Molecular Biology laboratory of Embrapa Western Amazon as a contaminant in culture plates during the study of endophytic fungi associated with Picrolemma sprucei. P. cyanoamazonica was characterized by a polyphasic approach, including multilocus phylogenetic, morphological, and chemical analyses. Genome analysis revealed 76 biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), with 80% showing no similarity to known BGCs. Two clusters of particular interest were identified: one potentially responsible for the production of the blue-greenish pigment and another possibly involved in the biosynthesis of Peritoxin A or an analog. P. cyanoamazonica demonstrated significant antifungal activity against various phytopathogenic fungi of agricultural interest, with inhibition of up to 98.52% against Rhizoctonia solani, and larvicidal activity against Aedes aegypti, reaching 100% mortality in 72 hours at 500 µg/mL. HPLC-MS/MS analysis identified a major compound (m/z 575 [M+H]) with a profile consistent with Peritoxin A. This study not only expands the taxonomic, genomic, and chemical knowledge of the genus Periconia but also establishes P. cyanoamazonica as a new species with significant biotechnological potential, highlighting the importance of exploring fungal biodiversity regardless of its origin.