ENDOPHYTES & ALKALOIDS--CHEMISTRY/GENTICS/BIOLOGIC ACTIV

描述(改编自申请)：真菌毒素是继发性真菌 对动物和人类有毒的代谢物。生活在植物体内的真菌 组织(内生菌)产生一些最有毒和最有趣的真菌毒素。 该项目将研究一组未被探索的草本植物内生菌和 羽扇豆素及其毒素及其生物活性和药用潜力 毒素的含量。 许多牧草含有内生真菌(蜡梅科)。真菌 产生对人类非常重要的生物碱：它们保护植物宿主免受 食草性，它们给畜牧业造成了巨大的损失，它们是 像毒品一样有用。它们也是研究人际关系的有趣模型 在致病性和互惠性之间。尽管草的内生菌一直是 在温带地区进行了广泛的研究，对它们几乎一无所知 新热带人。来自相同地区的羽扇豆类将进行检测，以确定是否存在 内生植物拟南星和根霉毒素。鬼臼毒素是一种结合微管蛋白的真菌毒素 在动物身上引起疾病，可能还会在人类身上引起疾病。热带气候研究 禾本科植物内生菌应提供新的生化和生物碱 药理学兴趣，对动物健康问题的新见解，以及一种新的 测试温带地区发展的寄主-病原体关系想法的背景 系统。 本项目包括四个相互关联的部分：1)草地植物内生菌的分离 新热带，也将为其他部分提供材料；2)DNA 一些内生菌的指纹和测序研究，以验证假说 关于种群的进化和杂交，并决定哪些真菌是 最有可能产生新的生物碱；3)生物碱和 以及4)生物活性和药用潜力的研究 在化合物中，基于昆虫取食的生物测定，体外生物测定 雌激素活性，以及孢子萌发生物测定，以测试抑制 有丝分裂。

Description (Adapted from Application): Mycotoxins are fungal secondary metabolites that are toxic to animals and humans. Fungi that live inside plant tissues (endophytes) produce some of the most toxic and interesting mycotoxins. This project will study an unexplored group of endophytes of grasses and lupins, their toxins, and the biological activity and pharmaceutical potential of the toxins. Many grasses contain endophytic fungi (family Clavicipitaceae). The fungi produce alkaloids of great importance to man: they protect the plant host from herbivory, they cause enormous losses to the livestock industry, and they are useful as drugs. They are also interesting models to study relationships between pathogenicity and mutualism. Although grass endophytes have been studied extensively in temperate areas, almost nothing is known about them in the Neotropics. Lupins from the same areas will be tested for presence of the endophyte Phomopsis and phomopsins. Phomopsins are tubulin-binding mycotoxins that cause diseases in animals, and, possibly in humans. Study of tropical endophytes of grasses should provide new alkaloids of biochemical and pharmacological interest, new insights into animal health problems, and a new context to test ideas of host-pathogen relationships developed in temperate systems. This project has four interrelated parts: 1) isolation of grass endophytes in the Neotropics, which will also provide materials for the other parts; 2) DNA fingerprinting and sequencing study of some endophytes, to test hypotheses about evolution and hybridization of the group and to decide which fungi are most likely to produce novel alkaloids; 3) identification of alkaloids and phomopsins; and 4) studies of biological activity and pharmaceutical potential of the compounds, based on insect feeding bioassays, an in vitro bioassay for estrogenicity, and a spore germination bioassay to test for inhibition of mitosis.