article · Heliyon
Investigation into the cultivable fungal diversity of Lake Magadi yielded fifty-two unique isolates capable of surviving extreme soda lake conditions. These haloalkaliphilic fungi grew across pH values ranging from six to ten, temperatures between twenty-five and forty degrees Celsius, and salt concentrations up to twenty percent. The isolates spanned eighteen genera, with Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, Phoma and Acremonium being the most dominant. Functional screening revealed that multiple isolates could produce industrially useful extracellular enzymes, specifically proteases, chitinases, cellulases, amylases, pectinases and lipases. Furthermore, an isolate affiliated with Penicillium chrysogenum produced bioactive secondary metabolites. Both crude and cell-free extracts from this strain demonstrated inhibitory effects against several human bacterial pathogens, Candida albicans and multiple fungal plant pathogens, confirming extreme alkaline environments as rich sources of biocatalysts and bioactive molecules.
Microorganisms adapted to extreme environments offer resilient biological mechanisms for practical use. Fungi that thrive in high-salt and alkaline environments produce enzymes that can endure harsh industrial processing conditions. Additionally, their secondary metabolites provide potential leads for new antimicrobial agents needed to tackle human infectious diseases and protect agricultural crops from fungal pathogens.
The findings suggest early-stage potential for industrial enzyme manufacturers, pharmaceutical developers, and agrochemical firms seeking novel biocatalysts or crop-protection agents. Because the research remains at the discovery phase, consisting solely of laboratory-scale isolation and crude extract screening, substantial further development, purification and efficacy testing are needed before commercial products can be realised.
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In this study we explored the cultivable fungal diversity in Lake Magadi and their secondary metabolite production. Isolation was done on alkaline media (Potato dextrose agar, Malt extract agar, Oatmeal agar and Sabouraud dextrose agar). A total of 52 unique isolates were recovered from the lake and were characterized using different techniques. Growth was observed at pH, temperature and salinity ranges of between 6 - 10, 25 °C - 40 °C and 0%-20% respectively. Phylogenetically, the isolates were affiliated to 18 different genera with <i>Aspergillus, Penicillium</i>, <i>Cladosporium, Phoma</i> and <i>Acremonium</i> being dominant. A screen for the ability to produce extracellular enzymes showed that different isolates could produce proteases, chitinases, cellulases, amylases, pectinases and lipases. Production of antimicrobial metabolites was noted for isolate 11M affiliated to <i>Penicillium chrysogenum</i> (99%). Cell free extracts and crude extracts from this isolate had inhibitory effects on <i>Bacillus subtilis</i>, <i>Escherichia coli</i>, <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella spp</i>., <i>Shigella spp.</i>, <i>Candida albicans</i> and fungal plant pathogens <i>Schizophyllum commune, Epicoccum sorghinum</i> strain JME-11<i>, Aspergillus fumigatus</i> strain EG11-4<i>, Cladosporium halotolerans</i> CBS 119416<i>, Phoma destructive</i> and <i>Didymella glomerata</i>). In this study we showed that different cultivation strategies can lead to recovery of more phylotypes from the extreme environments. Growth under different physiological characteristics typical of the soda lake environment (elevated temperature, pH and salts) confirmed the haloalkaliphilic nature of the fungal isolates. The use of suitable antimicrobial production media can also lead to discovery of more phylotypes producing diverse biocatalysts and bioactive metabolites.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02823
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