AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

Cyanobacteria have a long evolutionary history, dating back to 3500 million years ago. They are an ancient lineage of photosynthetic bacteria that contribute to global nitrogen and carbon cycles. Cyanobacteria can be found in diverse environments, from aquatic to terrestrial systems, with specimens detected and isolated from geothermal, hypersaline, polar and desert regions. Cyanobacteria are infamous for the production of toxins such as microcystin, cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxin and anatoxin-a. However, many different types of cyanobacterial compounds with e.g. antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer, antiviral and antiprotozoal activity have also been found. This study aimed at investigating the evolution, biosynthesis, chemical variety and antifungal activity of cyanobacterial compounds. The results indicate that distantly related cyanobacteria converged on the ability to produce a rare variant of microcystin. Microcystins are commonly produced by cyanobacteria during blooms, but have recently also been found in benthic and lichen-associated cyanobacteria. A benthic, a lichen-associated cyanobacterium and two planktonic strains were shown to produce [D-Leu1] microcystin-LR. Bioinformatic analyses indicated that different evolutionary events, i.e. point mutations and gene conversion, were involved in this convergent evolution. Over 400 cyanobacterial strains were screened for the production of antifungal compounds. Genome mining allowed the discovery of the biosynthetic genes involved in the synthesis of the antifungal compounds hassallidin and anabaenolysin. Anabaena sp. SYKE748A produced more than 40 glycolipopeptide hassallidins in addition to the two main variants. Hassallidins were also identified from Aphanizomenon, Cylindrospermopsis, Nostoc and Tolypothrix species. The lipopeptides anabaenolysins were detected only in Anabaena strains. New variants of anabaenolysins C and D were chemically characterized. The antifungal activity of hassallidin D and anabaenolysin B were investigated through disc diffusion and microdilution bioassays. Synergistic antifungal activity was surprisingly observed through the production of anabaenolysin and cyclodextrins by Anabaena strains. The macrolide scytophycin was identified from Anabaena strains in this study, the first report of scytophycin from this genus. In addition, Nostoc and Scytonema strains from benthic habitats in the Finnish coastal area in the Baltic Sea were found to produce scytophycins. Unidentified antifungal compounds from the strains Fischerella sp. CENA 298, Scytonema hofmanni PCC 7110 and Nostoc sp. N107.3 were detected in the present study. Further chemical characterizations of these compounds are needed. Cyanobacteria are a prolific source for bioactive compounds, which could be toxic or potentially new drug leads. In this study, we show evidence of cyanobacterial biosynthetic genes and their evolution. We also detected new variants of the cyanobacterial compounds and their bioactivity. Furthermore, this study showed the potential of…