Abstract
In the face of increasingly resistant bacteria, such as the ESKAPE pathogens and neglected diseases like leishmaniasis, there is a dire need for new and novel drug candidates. Since the discovery of penicillin, fungal metabolites have been an important chemodiversity source for drug discovery. Marine fungal endophytes live in harsh and highly competitive environments, and produce secondary metabolites as one of their survival strategies. However, in a laboratory setting, where culture conditions are no longer harsh nor competitive, production of secondary metabolites is often down regulated. With the aid of epigenetic modifiers, we are attempting to activate those down regulated biosynthetic pathways to access a greater chemical repertoire from our endophytic fungi. Here we describe our protocol in which mangrove endophytic fungi are isolated, subjected to treatment by known modulators of epigenetic mechanisms, and their extracts screened against the ESKAPE pathogens and the
Leishmania sp.
parasite, with the aim of discovering potent lead compounds for new drug treatments.