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Biodiscovery Downunder: New Discoveries in Natural Products Chemistry

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2024) | Viewed by 16111

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
Interests: biodiscovery; marine and microbial natural products chemistry; biomimetic synthesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will feature original articles and reviews on the chemistry of natural products sourced from marine and terrestrial biodiversity, including plants and algae, animals, invertebrates and insects, as well as microbes. Research articles will cover such topics as detection, production, dereplication, prioritization, isolation, spectroscopic and chemical characterisation, structure elucidation, biosynthesis, synthesis, and biological properties. Reviews can range across many topics in natural products science, including the diversity of novel structure classes and functionality, geographic and taxonomic distribution, chemical ecology, biological properties, biosynthesis and synthesis, and extending to applications in medicine, animal health, and crop and environmental protection. This Special Issue is an opportunity to celebrate the scope of new discoveries made in the field of natural products chemistry.

Prof. Dr. Robert John Capon
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • natural products
  • bacteria
  • novel scaffolds and functionality
  • structure elucidation
  • biosynthesis
  • chemical properties
  • biological properties

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 1955 KiB  
Article
Taipan Natriuretic Peptides Are Potent and Selective Agonists for the Natriuretic Peptide Receptor A
by Simone Vink, Kalyana Bharati Akondi, Jean Jin, Kim Poth, Allan M. Torres, Philip W. Kuchel, Sandra L. Burke, Geoffrey A. Head and Paul F. Alewood
Molecules 2023, 28(7), 3063; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28073063 - 29 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1814
Abstract
Cardiovascular ailments are a major cause of mortality where over 1.3 billion people suffer from hypertension leading to heart-disease related deaths. Snake venoms possess a broad repertoire of natriuretic peptides with therapeutic potential for treating hypertension, congestive heart failure, and related cardiovascular disease. [...] Read more.
Cardiovascular ailments are a major cause of mortality where over 1.3 billion people suffer from hypertension leading to heart-disease related deaths. Snake venoms possess a broad repertoire of natriuretic peptides with therapeutic potential for treating hypertension, congestive heart failure, and related cardiovascular disease. We now describe several taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) natriuretic peptides TNPa-e which stimulated cGMP production through the natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPR-A) with higher potencies for the rat NPR-A (rNPR-A) over human NPR-A (hNPR-A). TNPc and TNPd were the most potent, demonstrating 100- and 560-fold selectivity for rNPR-A over hNPR-A. In vivo studies found that TNPc decreased diastolic and systolic blood pressure (BP) and increased heart rate (HR) in conscious normotensive rabbits, to a level that was similar to that of human atrial natriuretic peptide (hANP). TNPc also enhanced the bradycardia due to cardiac afferent stimulation (Bezold–Jarisch reflex). This indicated that TNPc possesses the ability to lower blood pressure and facilitate cardiac vagal afferent reflexes but unlike hANP does not produce tachycardia. The 3-dimensional structure of TNPc was well defined within the pharmacophoric disulfide ring, displaying two turn-like regions (RMSD = 1.15 Å). Further, its much greater biological stability together with its selectivity and potency will enhance its usefulness as a biological tool. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiscovery Downunder: New Discoveries in Natural Products Chemistry)
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18 pages, 1712 KiB  
Article
Chrysosporazines Revisited: Regioisomeric Phenylpropanoid Piperazine P-Glycoprotein Inhibitors from Australian Marine Fish-Derived Fungi
by Amila Agampodi Dewa, Zeinab G. Khalil, Ahmed H. Elbanna and Robert J. Capon
Molecules 2022, 27(10), 3172; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27103172 - 16 May 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3060
Abstract
A library of fungi previously recovered from the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of several fresh, commercially sourced Australian mullet fish was re-profiled for production of a rare class of phenylpropanoid piperazine alkaloids (chrysosporazines) using an integrated platform of; (i) miniaturized 24-well plate cultivation profiling [...] Read more.
A library of fungi previously recovered from the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of several fresh, commercially sourced Australian mullet fish was re-profiled for production of a rare class of phenylpropanoid piperazine alkaloids (chrysosporazines) using an integrated platform of; (i) miniaturized 24-well plate cultivation profiling (MATRIX), (ii) UPLC-DAD and UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS (GNPS) chemical profiling, and; (iii) precursor directed biosynthesis to manipulate in situ biosynthetic performance and outputs; to detect two new fungal producers of chrysosporazines. Chemical analysis of an optimized PDA solid phase cultivation of Aspergillus sp. CMB-F661 yielded the new regioisomeric chrysosporazine T (1) and U (2), while precursor directed cultivation amplified production and yielded the very minor new natural products azachrysosporazine T1 (3) and U1 (4), and the new unnatural analogues neochrysosporazine R (5) and S (6). Likewise, chemical analysis of an optimized M1 solid phase cultivation of Spiromastix sp. CMB-F455 lead to the GNPS detection of multiple chrysosporazines and brasiliamides, and the isolation and structure elucidation of chrysosporazine D (7) and brasiliamide A (8). Access to new chrysosporazine regioisomers facilitated structure activity relationship investigations to better define the chrysosporazine P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitory pharmacophore, which is exceptionally potent at reversing doxorubrin resistance in P-gp over expressing colon carcinoma cells (SW600 Ad300). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiscovery Downunder: New Discoveries in Natural Products Chemistry)
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15 pages, 2098 KiB  
Article
Australian Honeypot Ant (Camponotus inflatus) Honey—A Comprehensive Analysis of the Physiochemical Characteristics, Bioactivity, and HPTLC Profile of a Traditional Indigenous Australian Food
by Md Khairul Islam, Ivan Lozada Lawag, Tomislav Sostaric, Edie Ulrich, Danny Ulrich, Terrence Dewar, Lee Yong Lim and Cornelia Locher
Molecules 2022, 27(7), 2154; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27072154 - 27 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 7855
Abstract
Despite its cultural and nutritional importance for local Aboriginal people, the unusual insect honey produced by Western Australian honeypot ant (Camponotus inflatus) has to date been rarely investigated. This study reports on the honey’s physicochemical properties, its total phenolic, major sugars [...] Read more.
Despite its cultural and nutritional importance for local Aboriginal people, the unusual insect honey produced by Western Australian honeypot ant (Camponotus inflatus) has to date been rarely investigated. This study reports on the honey’s physicochemical properties, its total phenolic, major sugars and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural contents, and its antioxidant activities. The honey’s color value is 467.63 mAU/63.39 mm Pfund, it has a pH of 3.85, and its electric conductivity is 449.71 µSiemens/cm. Its Brix value is 67.00, corresponding to a 33% moisture content. The total phenolics content is 19.62 mg gallic acid equivalent/100 g honey. Its antioxidant activity measured using the DPPH* (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and FRAP (ferric reducing–antioxidant power) assays is 1367.67 µmol Trolox/kg and 3.52 mmol Fe+2/kg honey, respectively. Major sugars in the honey are glucose and fructose, with a fructose-to-glucose ratio of 0.85. Additionally, unidentified sugar was found in minor quantities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiscovery Downunder: New Discoveries in Natural Products Chemistry)
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Review

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40 pages, 5436 KiB  
Review
Marine Natural Products from Flora and Fauna of the Western Australian Coast: Taxonomy, Isolation and Biological Activity
by Samuele Sala, Scott K. Micke and Gavin R. Flematti
Molecules 2023, 28(3), 1452; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031452 - 2 Feb 2023
Viewed by 2189
Abstract
Marine natural products occurring along the Western Australian coastline are the focus of this review. Western Australia covers one-third of the Australian coast, from tropical waters in the far north of the state to cooler temperate and Antarctic waters in the south. Over [...] Read more.
Marine natural products occurring along the Western Australian coastline are the focus of this review. Western Australia covers one-third of the Australian coast, from tropical waters in the far north of the state to cooler temperate and Antarctic waters in the south. Over 40 years of research has resulted in the identification of a number of different types of secondary metabolites including terpenoids, alkaloids, polyketides, fatty acid derivatives, peptides and arsenic-containing natural products. Many of these compounds have been reported to display a variety of bioactivities. A description of the compound classes and their associated bioactivities from marine organisms found along the Western Australian coastline is presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiscovery Downunder: New Discoveries in Natural Products Chemistry)
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