J Appl Microbiol 2020 Sep 01;1293:612-625. doi: 10.1111/jam.14659.

Diversity and bioactivity of fungi associated with the marine sea cucumber Holothuria poli: disclosing the strains potential for biomedical applications.

???displayArticle.abstract???
AIMS: Identification of the mycobiota associated to the marine echinoderm Holothuria poli and investigation of cytotoxic and pro-osteogenic potential of isolated strains. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fungal strains were isolated from the animals body-wall, intestine, and faeces. The species identification was based on DNA barcoding and morphophysiological observations. Forty-seven species were identified, all Ascomycota and mainly belonging to Aspergillus and Penicillium genera. Sixteen strains were grown on three media for chemical extraction. Cytotoxic activity was tested on a hepatic cancer cell line (HepG2), the cells viability was evaluated after treatment using a resazurin based assay (AlamarBlue). Pro-osteogenic activity was tested on human Mesenchymal Stem Cell, differentiation was measured as the alkaline phosphatase production through reaction with p-nitrophenylphosphate or as the cells ability to mineralize calcium using a colorimetric kit (StanBio). Cytotoxic activity was recorded for four fungal species while five out of 48 extracts highlighted bioactivity toward human mesenchymal stem cells. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of relevant animal-associated mycobiota was observed in H. poli and selected strains showed cytotoxic potential and pro-osteogenic activity. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPORTANCE OF THIS STUDY: Our work represents the first report of a Mediterranean sea cucumber mycobiota and highlights the isolates potential to synthetize compounds of pharmaceutical interest for regenerative medicine.

???displayArticle.pubmedLink??? 32274883
???displayArticle.link??? J Appl Microbiol
???displayArticle.grants??? [+]

Genes referenced: LOC100887844 LOC115919910 poli