Background

Fungi from mangrove forests represent a great potential for the bioprospecting of new bioactive metabolites. The rhizosphere of several regions of the world has been widely studied, however, there are no studies on the biodiversity of Mexican mangroves.

Objectives

To evaluate the anti-proliferative activity of fungal extracts isolated from accumulated sediments in the rhizosphere of three mangrove species distributed in three zones with different degrees of salinity in Mexico.

Methods

The isolated fungi were identified at genus level by taxonomic keys. The anti-proliferative activity was determined by the SRB assay and the strains with values of GI50 <100 μg.mL-1 were identified molecularly.

Results and conclusions

Six extracts from four strains exhibited GI50 values < 100 µg.mL-1 in at least one cancer cell line. A strain of Aspergillus pulverulentus isolated from a disturbed area of Avicennia germinans showed the highest anti-proliferative activity against six different cancer cell lines. The GI50 values ranged from 40 to 83 µg.mL-1 in biomass extracts and 6 to 28 µg.mL-1 in culture broth extracts. This paper is the first study of bioprospecting fungi showing anti-proliferative activity in mangrove sediments in Mexico.

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