Effects of salt concentration on the production of cytotoxic geodin from marine-derived fungus Aspergillus sp.

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Microorganisms produce optically single bioactive natural products; the process is cheap as compared to chemical synthesis and environmentally friendly. Geodin 1 was isolated from the soft coral-derived fungus Aspergillus sp. It has a broad range of biological activities such as antiviral, antimicrobial, glucose stimulator for rat adipocytes, enhancement of fibrinolytic and cytotoxic activities, and is a subunit of the first nonpeptide and inhibitory active galanin receptor. In this work, we studied the effects of sodium chloride (NaCl) salt concentration on the production of geodin 1 and improved its yield to a multi-gram quantity through media optimization from a marine-derived fungus Aspergillus sp. Methods The fungal strain was cultivated at various concentrations of NaCl salt in rice medium and extracted after different intervals of time. Results The yield of geodin 1 was 137.2 mg/L at optimal conditions. The optimal conditions for the high yield of geodin 1 were found as rice medium with 2.0% NaCl salt and 3 weeks incubation at room temperature. Conclusions The concentration of NaCl salt greatly affects the yield of geodin and hence its biosynthetic pathway.