Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40922022›Full record

ArticleBMC microbiology2025

Epigenetic modulation of Ceratorhiza hydrophila by 5-azacytidine enhances antifungal metabolite production: insights from antimicrobial, metabolic, genomic and computational analyses.

Rehab M Abdelhamid, Elham R S Soliman, Eslam T Mohamed, Yasmin M Elsaba

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Article in BMC microbiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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2citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Rehab M AbdelhamidBotany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, 11421, Egypt.
Elham R S SolimanBotany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, 11421, Egypt.ORCID 0000-0003-3728-7431
Eslam T MohamedBotany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, 11421, Egypt. EslamElsaaid@science.helwan.edu.eg.
Yasmin M ElsabaBotany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, 11421, Egypt.ORCID 0000-0002-5164-1276

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe emergence of drug-resistant pathogens has stimulated the need for the development of new antimicrobial agents. Epigenetic modulation by suppressing epigenetic inhibitors, such as 5-azacytidine (5-aza), has been shown to activate silent biosynthetic gene clusters within a fungus and causes the production of novel secondary metabolites. This research examined this epigenetic modification strategy in the poorly studied filamentous fungus, Ceratorhiza hydrophila, which may help induce the additional production of bioactive compounds.

resultsThe results from genomic and spectroscopic analyses (ISSR profiling and FTIR spectroscopy) indicated that 50 µM 5-aza produced substantial global DNA demethylation and genomic changes in C. hydrophila with no impact on cell viability. The epigenetic changes associated with the DNA demethylation prompted a notable and selective change in antimicrobial profile to suppress antibacterial activity against strains such as Clostridium sporogenes while also showing a robust induction of antifungal activity against Candida albicans (22 mm inhibition zone). GC-MS was performed for a deep-dive characterization of the metabolic profile which revealed, for example, a dramatic alteration of the profile including production of new secondary metabolites such as a novel indole derivative and diisooctyl phthalate, which did not exist in the untreated control. In silico analyses, such as modelling the promoter and molecular docking opportunities, offered a believable mechanistic rationale for the effects seen, linked to the predicted modulation of primary biosynthetic pathways.

conclusionThis study demonstrates that epigenetic modulation can be used to successfully unlock latent biosynthetic capability in C. hydrophila resulting in the production of unique compounds with strong and selective antifungal activity. These results demonstrate the advantages of epigenetic screening of unique fungal sources in the search for new drug leads.

Indexed as

Antifungal AgentsAzacitidineEpigenesis, GeneticHypocrealesAnti-Bacterial AgentsCandida albicansComputational BiologyDNA MethylationGenomicsMicrobial Sensitivity TestsSecondary MetabolismAnti-Bacterial AgentsAntifungal AgentsAzacitidine5-azacytidineAntimicrobial metabolitesBiosynthetic pathwaysCeratorhiza hydrophilaDrug resistance.Epigenetic modulationGC-MSMolecular docking

Identifiers

PMID40922022
PMCPMC12418614

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.