The Pathogenic Fungal Genus Corynespora: A Prolific Source of Bioactive Secondary Metabolites

In
this perspective, we examine the chemical structures
and biological
activities of 55 secondary metabolites isolated from the pathogenic
fungal genus Corynespora. Over 20% of these compounds
demonstrate bioactivities, including antibacterial, anticancer, enzyme
inhibition, and others. Bioinformatic analysis reveals that Corynespora possesses a high potential for encoding PKS-I
and NRPS natural products, including many clade-specific metabolites,
and only 2.1% of biosynthetic gene cluster families are associated
with known secondary metabolites. This study underscores the significant,
unexplored potential of Corynespora strains for synthesizing
novel secondary metabolites, providing valuable insights into the
targeted discovery and biosynthesis of novel natural products from
this genus.