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Identification of a Huperzine A-producing endophytic fungus from Phlegmariurus taxifolius

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Abstract

Highly prized huperzine A (Hup A), a natural alkaloid formerly isolated from the Chinese medicinal plant Huperzia serrata, has been widely used for the treatment of Alzheimer disease, inspiring us to search for endophytic fungi that produce this compound. In this study, we obtained the C17 fungus isolate from the Mexican club moss Phlegmariurus taxifolius, which produced a yield of 3.2 μg/g Hup A in mycelial dry weight, when cultured in potato dextrose broth medium. The C17 isolate was identified as belonging to the genus Fusarium with reference to the colony´s morphological characteristics and the presence of macroconidia and microconidia structures; and this was confirmed by DNA-barcoding analysis, by amplifying and sequencing the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (rITS).

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by CONACyT (Nos. 156276 and 222714) developed at the Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Mexico. Thanks are due to Ariadna Zenil for support in the HPLC analysis. OLCM acknowledges the receipt of a Ph.D. fellowship No. 230949 from CONACYT.

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Correspondence to Alexandre Cardoso Taketa.

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Cruz-Miranda, O., Folch-Mallol, J., Martínez-Morales, F. et al. Identification of a Huperzine A-producing endophytic fungus from Phlegmariurus taxifolius. Mol Biol Rep 47, 489–495 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-019-05155-1

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