''Neocosmospora'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
fungi
A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...
in the family
Nectriaceae
The Nectriaceae comprise a family of fungi in the order Hypocreales. It was circumscribed by brothers Charles and Louis René Tulasne in 1865. In 2020, an Outline of fungi was produced and listed 70 genera and about 1,336 species.
It is a highl ...
.
The genus was established by Smith in 1899.
Species in the genus are
saprobes (processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter),
endophytes
An endophyte is an endosymbiont, often a bacterium or fungus, that lives within a plant for at least part of its life cycle without causing apparent disease. Endophytes are ubiquitous and have been found in all species of plants studied to date; ...
(a fungus that lives within a plant for at least part of its life cycle), and plant and animal pathogens and they are commonly found in soil, plant debris, living plant material, air and water (Sandoval-Denis et al. 2019; Guarnaccia et al. 2021).
Species
As accepted by
Species Fungorum
''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (Binomial nomenclature, scientific names) in the fungus Kingdom (biology), kingdom. As of 2015, the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partn ...
;
*''
Neocosmospora arxii''
*''
Neocosmospora boninensis''
*''
Neocosmospora endophytica''
*''
Neocosmospora floridana''
*''
Neocosmospora indica''
*''
Neocosmospora kurunegalensis''
*''
Neocosmospora leucaenae''
*''
Neocosmospora magnoliae''
*''
Neocosmospora obliquiseptata''
*''
Neocosmospora parva''
*''
Neocosmospora rekana''
*''
Neocosmospora rubicola''
*''
Neocosmospora striata''
*''
Neocosmospora striatispora''
*''
Neocosmospora thailandica''
*''
Neocosmospora tuaranensis''
Uses of Neocosmospora species
Bioassay-guided
fractionation
Fractionation is a separation process in which a certain quantity of a mixture (of gasses, solids, liquids, enzymes, or isotopes, or a suspension) is divided during a phase transition, into a number of smaller quantities (fractions) in which t ...
of a fungus ''Neocosmospora'' sp. resulted in the isolation of three new
resorcylic acid lactone
Resorcylic acid lactones are a group of estrogenic compounds. They are lactones of resorcylic acid. Examples include the mycoestrogens (and synthetic analogues) zearalenone
Zearalenone (ZEN), also known as RAL and F-2 mycotoxin, is a potent ...
s, 'neocosmosin A' (2), 'neocosmosin B' (3) and 'neocosmosin C' (4). As well as three known resorcylic acid lactones, 'monocillin IV' (1), 'monocillin II' (5) and
radicicol
Radicicol, also known as monorden, is a natural product that binds to Hsp90 (Heat Shock Protein 90) and alters its function. HSP90 client proteins play important roles in the regulation of the cell cycle, cell growth, cell survival, apoptosis, ang ...
(6) which were also isolated and identified, where compounds 4–6 show good binding affinity for the human
opioid receptor
Opioid receptors are a group of inhibitory G protein-coupled receptors with opioids as ligands. The endogenous opioids are dynorphins, enkephalins, endorphins, endomorphins and nociceptin. The opioid receptors are ~40% identical to somatostati ...
s. These findings have important implications for the potential psychoactive effects with this class of compounds.
References
External links
*
Nectriaceae genera
{{Hypocreales-stub