Abstract
Chemically diverse and largely under-studied, mangrove endophytic fungi represent a valuable source of natural products for a drug discovery screening program. While classical lab fermentation techniques may not reveal the full chemical potential of these organisms, epigenetic modification can encourage otherwise down-regulated biosynthetic capabilities to be realized. As part of two NIH funded screening projects, mangrove endophytic fungi were grown under control and epigenetically modified conditions, extracted, and submitted for biological assay against a panel of the drug resistant and clinically relevant ESKAPE pathogens as well as against the tropical disease causing parasite
Leishmania donovani
. Active extracts were dereplicated by LC/QToF MS, then prioritized based on Bray-Curtis similarity. High priority cultures were scaled up and subjected to bioassay-guided chemical analysis.