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Identification of a novel endophytic fungus from Huperzia serrata which produces huperzine A

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Abstract

Huperzine A is isolated from Huperzia serrata and is used for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, due to its low toxicity and long effective period. The decrease in H. serrata sources means that natural huperzine A cannot meet the needs of clinical therapy. In this study, >200 endophytic fungal strains were isolated from H. serrata, and screened using high-performance liquid chromatography. Strain ES026 produced huperzine A. Production was identified and quantified by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, and the yield of huperzine A was 1 μg/g dried mycelium. ES026 strain was identified as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides by morphology, polymerase chain reaction with species-specific primers and rDNA internal transcribed spacer sequence. ES026 contributes to the breeding of cultivated strains with high yield of huperzine A. Meanwhile, the strain was suitable for the study of biosynthesis of huperzine A.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Lu Zheng of Huazhong Agricultural University for supplying the C. gloeosporioides standard strain and C. higginsianum strain. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81202870) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China through the Project of International Scientific and Technological Cooperation between China and South Korea (Grant No. 2011DFA31290).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Hongshan District Shizishan Street 1, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Shaohua Shu, Wenjuan Wang, Guowei Zhang & Mo Wang

  2. College of Life Science, Xinyang Normal University, Chang’an Road 1, Xinyang, 464000, China

    Xinmei Zhao

  3. Phytopathology Unit, Faculty of Biology, University of La Laguna, Blvd. Astrofísico Fco. Sánchez S/N, La Laguna, Tenerife, 38206, Spain

    Andreea Cosoveanu

  4. College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 151-742, Republic of Korea

    Youngjoon Ahn

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  1. Shaohua Shu
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Correspondence to Mo Wang.

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Shu, S., Zhao, X., Wang, W. et al. Identification of a novel endophytic fungus from Huperzia serrata which produces huperzine A. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 30, 3101–3109 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-014-1737-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-014-1737-6

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