1887
No metrics data to plot.
The attempt to load metrics for this article has failed.
The attempt to plot a graph for these metrics has failed.

Melanin, Radiation, and Energy Transduction in Fungi

MyBook is a cheap paperback edition of the original book and will be sold at uniform, low price.
  • PDF
    3.72 MB
  • HTML
    54.88 Kb
  • XML
    42.70 Kb
  • Authors: Arturo Casadevall1, Radames J. B. Cordero2, Ruth Bryan3, Joshua Nosanchuk4, Ekaterina Dadachova5
  • Editors: Joseph Heitman6, Neil A. R. Gow7
  • VIEW AFFILIATIONS HIDE AFFILIATIONS
    Affiliations: 1: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205; 2: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205; 3: Departments of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461; 4: Departments of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461; 5: Fedoruk Center for Nuclear Innovation, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 0W8 Canada; 6: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710; 7: School of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Fosterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, United Kingdom
    • Source: microbiolspec March 2017 vol. 5 no. 2 doi:10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016
  • Received 07 December 2016 Accepted 08 December 2016 Published 03 March 2017
  • Arturo Casadevall, [email protected]
image of Melanin, Radiation, and Energy Transduction in Fungi
    Preview this microbiology spectrum article:
    Preview Magnify
    Zoom in
    Zoomout

    Melanin, Radiation, and Energy Transduction in Fungi, Page 1 of 2

    | /docserver/preview/fulltext/microbiolspec/5/2/FUNK-0037-2016-1.gif /docserver/preview/fulltext/microbiolspec/5/2/FUNK-0037-2016-2.gif

  • Abstract:

    Melanin pigments are found in many diverse fungal species, where they serve a variety of functions that promote fitness and cell survival. Melanotic fungi inhabit some of the most extreme habitats on earth such as the damaged nuclear reactor at Chernobyl and the highlands of Antarctica, both of which are high-radiation environments. Melanotic fungi migrate toward radioactive sources, which appear to enhance their growth. This phenomenon, combined with the known capacities of melanin to absorb a broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation and transduce this radiation into other forms of energy, raises the possibility that melanin also functions in harvesting such energy for biological usage. The ability of melanotic fungi to harness electromagnetic radiation for physiological processes has enormous implications for biological energy flows in the biosphere and for exobiology, since it provides new mechanisms for survival in extraterrestrial conditions. Whereas some features of the way melanin-related energy transduction works can be discerned by linking various observations and circumstantial data, the mechanistic details remain to be discovered.

  • Citation: Casadevall A, Cordero R, Bryan R, Nosanchuk J, Dadachova E. 2017. Melanin, Radiation, and Energy Transduction in Fungi. Microbiol Spectrum 5(2):FUNK-0037-2016. doi:10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016.

References

1. Polak A. 1990. Melanin as a virulence factor in pathogenic fungi. Mycoses 33:215–224. [PubMed]
2. Butler MJ, Day AW. 1998. Fungal melanins: a review. Can J Microbiol 44:1115–1136. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/w98-119
3. Morris-Jones R, Gomez BL, Diez S, Uran M, Morris-Jones SD, Casadevall A, Nosanchuk JD, Hamilton AJ. 2005. Synthesis of melanin pigment by Candida albicans in vitro and during infection. Infect Immun 73:6147–6150. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/IAI.73.9.6147-6150.2005
4. Walker CA, Gómez BL, Mora-Montes HM, Mackenzie KS, Munro CA, Brown AJ, Gow NA, Kibbler CC, Odds FC. 2010. Melanin externalization in Candida albicans depends on cell wall chitin structures. Eukaryot Cell 9:1329–1342. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/EC.00051-10
5. Nosanchuk JD, Casadevall A. 2003. The contribution of melanin to microbial pathogenesis. Cell Microbiol 5:203–223. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1462-5814.2003.00268.x
6. Nosanchuk JD, Casadevall A. 2006. Impact of melanin on microbial virulence and clinical resistance to antimicrobial compounds. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 50:3519–3528. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00545-06
7. Wheeler MH, Bell AA. 1988. Melanins and their importance in pathogenic fungi. Curr Top Med Mycol 2:338–387. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3730-3_10
8. Jacobson ES, Tinnell SB. 1993. Antioxidant function of fungal melanin. J Bacteriol 175:7102–7104. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jb.175.21.7102-7104.1993 [PubMed]
9. Jacobson ES. 2000. Pathogenic roles for fungal melanins. Clin Microbiol Rev 13:708–717. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/CMR.13.4.708-717.2000 [PubMed]
10. Henson JM, Butler MJ, Day AW. 1999. The dark side of the mycelium: melanins of phytopathogenic fungi. Annu Rev Phytopathol 37:447–471. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.phyto.37.1.447 [PubMed]
11. Nosanchuk JD, Stark RE, Casadevall A. 2015. Fungal melanin: what do we know about structure? Front Microbiol 6:1463. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.01463 [PubMed]
12. Enochs WS, Nilges MJ, Swartz HM. 1993. A standardized test for the identification and characterization of melanins using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Pigment Cell Res 6:91–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0749.1993.tb00587.x [PubMed]
13. Chatterjee S, Prados-Rosales R, Itin B, Casadevall A, Stark RE. 2015. Solid-state NMR reveals the carbon-based molecular architecture of Cryptococcus neoformans fungal eumelanins in the cell wall. J Biol Chem 290:13779–13790. http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M114.618389.
14. Chatterjee S, Prados-Rosales R, Tan S, Itin B, Casadevall A, Stark RE. 2014. Demonstration of a common indole-based aromatic core in natural and synthetic eumelanins by solid-state NMR. Org Biomol Chem 12:6730–6736. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C4OB01066C
15. Taylor BE, Wheeler MH, Szaniszlo PJ. 1987. Evidence for pentakide melanin biosynthesis in demiatiaceous human pathogenic fungi. Mycologia 79:320–322. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3807665
16. Langfelder K, Streibel M, Jahn B, Haase G, Brakhage AA. 2003. Biosynthesis of fungal melanins and their importance for human pathogenic fungi. Fungal Genet Biol 38:143–158. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1087-1845(02)00526-1
17. Franzen AJ, Cunha MM, Miranda K, Hentschel J, Plattner H, da Silva MB, Salgado CG, De Souza W, Rozental S. 2008. Ultrastructural characterization of melanosomes of the human pathogenic fungus Fonsecaea pedrosoi. J Struct Biol 162:75–84. [PubMed]
18. Hill HZ. 1992. The function of melanin or six blind people examine an elephant. BioEssays 14:49–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bies.950140111 [PubMed]
19. Dadachova E, Bryan RA, Howell RC, Schweitzer AD, Aisen P, Nosanchuk JD, Casadevall A. 2008. The radioprotective properties of fungal melanin are a function of its chemical composition, stable radical presence and spatial arrangement. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res 21:192–199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-148X.2007.00430.x
20. Khajo A, Bryan RA, Friedman M, Burger RM, Levitsky Y, Casadevall A, Magliozzo RS, Dadachova E. 2011. Protection of melanized Cryptococcus neoformans from lethal dose gamma irradiation involves changes in melanin’s chemical structure and paramagnetism. PLoS One 6:e25092. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0025092
21. Selbmann L, Zucconi L, Isola D, Onofri S. 2015. Rock black fungi: excellence in the extremes, from the Antarctic to space. Curr Genet 61:335–345. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00294-014-0457-7 [PubMed]
22. Zhdanova NN, Vasilevskaia AI, Artyshkova LV, Gavriliuk VI, Lashko TN, Sadovnikov IS. 1991. Complexes of soil micromycetes in the area of the influence of the Chernobyl Atomic Electric Power Station. Mikrobiol Zh 53:3–9. [In Russian.] [PubMed]
23. Mironenko NV, Alekhina IA, Zhdanova NN, Bulat SA. 2000. Intraspecific variation in gamma-radiation resistance and genomic structure in the filamentous fungus Alternaria alternata: a case study of strains inhabiting Chernobyl reactor no. 4. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 45:177–187. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/eesa.1999.1848
24. Dighton J, Tugay T, Zhdanova N. 2008. Fungi and ionizing radiation from radionuclides. FEMS Microbiol Lett 281:109–120. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6968.2008.01076.x [PubMed]
25. Onofri S, Barreca D, Selbmann L, Isola D, Rabbow E, Horneck G, de Vera JP, Hatton J, Zucconi L. 2008. Resistance of Antarctic black fungi and cryptoendolithic communities to simulated space and Martian conditions. Stud Mycol 61:99–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.3114/sim.2008.61.10
26. Gomoiu I, Chatzitheodoridis E, Vadrucci S, Walther I. 2013. The effect of spaceflight on growth of Ulocladium chartarum colonies on the international space station. PLoS One 8:e62130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062130
27. Zhdanova NN, Lashko TN, Redchits TI, Vasilevskaia AI, Borisiuk LG, Siniavskaia OI, Gavriliuk VI, Muzalev PN. 1991. The interaction of soil micromycetes with “hot” particles in a model system. Mikrobiol Zh 53:9–17. [In Russian.] [PubMed]
28. Zhdanova NN, Tugay T, Dighton J, Zheltonozhsky V, McDermott P. 2004. Ionizing radiation attracts soil fungi. Mycol Res 108:1089–1096. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0953756204000966 [PubMed]
29. Dadachova E, Bryan RA, Huang X, Moadel T, Schweitzer AD, Aisen P, Nosanchuk JD, Casadevall A. 2007. Ionizing radiation changes the electronic properties of melanin and enhances the growth of melanized fungi. PLoS One 2:e457. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000457 [PubMed]
30. Robertson KL, Mostaghim A, Cuomo CA, Soto CM, Lebedev N, Bailey RF, Wang Z. 2012. Adaptation of the black yeast Wangiella dermatitidis to ionizing radiation: molecular and cellular mechanisms. PLoS One 7:e48674. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048674
31. Braghini R, Pozzi CR, Aquino S, Rocha LO, Correa B. 2009. Effects of gamma-radiation on the fungus Alternaria alternata in artificially inoculated cereal samples. Appl Radiat Isot 67:1622–1628. [PubMed]
32. Shuryak I, Bryan RA, Nosanchuk JD, Dadachova E. 2014. Mathematical modeling predicts enhanced growth of X-ray irradiated pigmented fungi. PLoS One 9:e85561. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085561
33. Zakharova K, Marzban G, de Vera JP, Lorek A, Sterflinger K. 2014. Protein patterns of black fungi under simulated Mars-like conditions. Sci Rep 4:5114. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep05114 [PubMed]
34. Tugay TI, Zheltonozhskaya MV, Sadovnikov LV, Tugay AV, Farfán EB. 2011. Effects of ionizing radiation on the antioxidant system of microscopic fungi with radioadaptive properties found in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Health Phys 101:375–382. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/HP.0b013e3181f56bf8
35. Turick CE, Ekechukwu AA, Milliken CE, Casadevall A, Dadachova E. 2011. Gamma radiation interacts with melanin to alter its oxidation-reduction potential and results in electric current production. Bioelectrochemistry 82:69–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bioelechem.2011.04.009
36. Palmer RJ Jr, Friedmann EI. 1988. Incorporation of inorganic carbon by Antarctic cryptoendolithic fungi. Polarforschung 58:189–191. [PubMed]
37. Moses V, Holm-Hansen O, Calvin M. 1959. Nonphotosynthetic fixation of carbon dioxide by three microorganisms. J Bacteriol 77:70–78. [PubMed]
38. Wang Y, Aisen P, Casadevall A. 1996. Melanin, melanin “ghosts,” and melanin composition in Cryptococcus neoformans. Infect Immun 64:2420–2424. [PubMed]
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016
2017-03-03
2021-01-27

Abstract:

Melanin pigments are found in many diverse fungal species, where they serve a variety of functions that promote fitness and cell survival. Melanotic fungi inhabit some of the most extreme habitats on earth such as the damaged nuclear reactor at Chernobyl and the highlands of Antarctica, both of which are high-radiation environments. Melanotic fungi migrate toward radioactive sources, which appear to enhance their growth. This phenomenon, combined with the known capacities of melanin to absorb a broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation and transduce this radiation into other forms of energy, raises the possibility that melanin also functions in harvesting such energy for biological usage. The ability of melanotic fungi to harness electromagnetic radiation for physiological processes has enormous implications for biological energy flows in the biosphere and for exobiology, since it provides new mechanisms for survival in extraterrestrial conditions. Whereas some features of the way melanin-related energy transduction works can be discerned by linking various observations and circumstantial data, the mechanistic details remain to be discovered.

Highlighted Text: Show | Hide
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/microbiolspec/5/2/FUNK-0037-2016.html?itemId=/content/journal/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Figures

Melanin, Radiation, and Energy Transduction in Fungi
[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-1,webId=/content/author/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-1,properties={foaf_givenname=Arturo, foaf_name=Arturo Casadevall, foaf_surname=Casadevall, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-aff1]]}], com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-2,webId=/content/author/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-2,properties={foaf_givenname=Radames J. B., foaf_name=Radames J. B. Cordero, foaf_surname=Cordero, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-aff2]]}], com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-3,webId=/content/author/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-3,properties={foaf_givenname=Ruth, foaf_name=Ruth Bryan, foaf_surname=Bryan, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-aff3]]}], com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-4,webId=/content/author/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-4,properties={foaf_givenname=Joshua, foaf_name=Joshua Nosanchuk, foaf_surname=Nosanchuk, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-aff4]]}], com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/author/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-5,webId=/content/author/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-5,properties={foaf_givenname=Ekaterina, foaf_name=Ekaterina Dadachova, foaf_surname=Dadachova, pub_isAffiliatedWith=[com.pub2web.rdf.cci.facet.ContentItem[id=http://asm.metastore.ingenta.com/content/affiliation/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016-aff5]]}]]
Citation: Casadevall A, Cordero R, Bryan R, Nosanchuk J, Dadachova E. 2017. Melanin, radiation, and energy transduction in fungi. microbiolspec 5(2): doi:10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016
/content/microbiolspec/10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016.fig1
FIGURE 1
Melanized and melanin “ghosts.” Melanized cell in India Ink suspension to illustrate the cellular location of melanin. The cell wall appears dark because of the presence of melanin. Note that melanin is external to the body of the cell. Melanin ghosts prepared from melanized cryptococcal cells by strong acid digestion ( 38 ), which removes cellular components except for the cell wall-associated melanin. Scanning electron microscopy of a melanin ghost showing its granulated surface structure, porosity, and thickness.
microbiolspec/5/2/FUNK-0037-2016-fig1_thmb.gif
microbiolspec/5/2/FUNK-0037-2016-fig1.gif
Image of FIGURE 1

Click to view

FIGURE 1

Melanized and melanin “ghosts.” Melanized cell in India Ink suspension to illustrate the cellular location of melanin. The cell wall appears dark because of the presence of melanin. Note that melanin is external to the body of the cell. Melanin ghosts prepared from melanized cryptococcal cells by strong acid digestion ( 38 ), which removes cellular components except for the cell wall-associated melanin. Scanning electron microscopy of a melanin ghost showing its granulated surface structure, porosity, and thickness.

Source: microbiolspec March 2017 vol. 5 no. 2 doi:10.1128/microbiolspec.FUNK-0037-2016
Permissions and Reprints Request Permissions
Download as Powerpoint

Supplemental Material

No supplementary material available for this content.

Back to top
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Please check the format of the address you have entered.
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error