PRODUCTION OF BIOACTIVE SECONDARY METABOLITES IN THE FRUIT BODIES OF MACROFUNGI AS A RESPONSE TO INJURY

The conversion of secondary metabolites asa response to injury in frui t bodies of 121 species of Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes was investig ated. Extracts of intact and injured specimens were compared by analys is with TLC, and by assaying their antifungal (against Nematospora cor yli),antibacterial (against Bacillus brevis) and nematicidal (against Caenorhabditis elegans) activities. Significant conversions induced by injury were observed (by TLC comparison) in the extracts of 66 specie s. For 37 of these the extract of the injured specimen showed higher b ioactivity. Of the remaining 55 species, in which no changes between t he extracts of intact and injured fruit bodies were observed, 30 were found to contain bioactive compounds. The possibility that these findi ngs reflect the presence of chemical defence systems in mushrooms, med iated by enzymatic conversions activated by physical injury, is discus sed. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.