New page

From BIOL 2P96 Jan 2013 Group 06

[edit] Introduction

Over the past half century, fungi and their metabolites have been immensely important in medicine and pharmaceutics. Since the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928, there has been an increasing number of investigations seeking to exploit fungal metabolic pathways for potential novel drugs. In the followinng years, important antimicrobial pharmaceuticals such as grisefulvin (derived from Penicillium griseofulvum) and cephalosporin (Acremonium) were discovered (Amal et al. 2011).

[edit] History

Ever since the 18th and 19th century fungi in pharmaceuticals have a been vigorously studied. There are over 200 different fungi's, however only 74% are used in antimicrobial activity. Basidiospores, have a long history of medical uses. The tendor polypore,Fomes Fomentarius, was used in hemostatic dressing and bandages. Dioscorisdes- a Greek physician discovered the use of Fomitopsis(Polyporus) officinalis that was used to treat tuberculosis. That very same polypore was found in the body of a 5300 year old Ice-Man.

In 1928, the most widely used fungi-Penicillium was discovered by accident at the St.Mary's Hospital in London by Alexander Fleming. Mr.Fleming left culture dishes of the pathogenic bacterium,Staphylococcus aureus on his work bench and upon his returned from a brief holiday, to his surprise a fungus colony had been found