Health supplements from fungi
Coenzyme Q, or ubiquinone is a familiar name on the vitamins and supplements shelf with good reason. It is a strong antioxidant and therefore protects against those scavenging free radicals. Research has shown it can reduce blood pressure and be used in the treatment of certain cancers. It occurs naturally in the body, mainly in the heart but unfortunately, its concentration in tissues can decrease from about the age of 35. Scientists in the EC funded project FUNGAL CAROTENOIDS, as the name would suggest, investigated the production of carotenoids by different fungal species. Carotenoids share a chemical relationship with coenzyme Q in that they are part of the large group, the terpenoids. Project partners at the University of Seville focused their research skills on the coenzyme and its production pathways in the fungal group Zygomycetes. Using radioactive tracer molecules, they followed the production of coenzyme Q and other target compounds, for example carotene. They found that these fungal cells were made up of the equivalent of production departments in a factory. Each sub-cellular compartment produced its own end-product and possessed its own pool of metabolites or raw materials. With commercial production in mind, the scientists also investigated how production of ubiquinone varies with environmental conditions. The presence of carotene or illumination had no effect. By contrast though, leucine and acetate as carbon sources both caused up-regulation of ubiquinone. Moreover, they found that fungal genus or the source of the coenzyme is sometimes important. The antibiotic oligomycin increases production in Phycomeces but not Blakeslea. This work could act as a platform for further research projects for these microbial production lines. The health of the consumer, food, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries all stand to benefit from this line of research.