Yu r l o va e t a l.AcetateMelanin(O)OHOH(H)TrOHO-H 2 OOHOH(H)TrOOH-H 2 OOHOHHOOHHOOHHOHO1,3,6,8-THNScytalone1,3,8-THNVermeloneDHN(O)(O)OOHHOOOOHHOOH(o)HOOH2HOOOOFlaviolin3,3'-Biflaviolin2-HJ(H)(O)(H)(O)OHOH(H)OHO-H 2 OOHOHOOH(O)HOOOHHOOHHOOHHOOHOHOHOO1,2,4,5 ,7-P HN5-HS1,2,4,5-THNJuglone3-HJ(H)(H)(H)(O)OOHOOHOHOHOOH-H 2 O(H)HOOHHOOHOHOHOH4-HS3,4,8-THT1,4,5-THN4,8-DHTFig. 7. Biosynthetic pathway of DHN-melanin and related pentaketide metabolites, from the scheme shown by Bell & Wheeler (1986). The first known product of the pathwayis I.3.6.8-THN. This metabolite is reduced lo scytalone, which is then dehydrated to 1,3.8-THN. Next, 1.3.8-THN is reduced to vermelone, which is then dehydrated to DHN.The enzyme(s) that catalyze the final polymerization reaction, oxidation of DHN to melanin, have not yet been adequately studied but it appears to be a laccase. Tricyclazole(Tr) inhibits the reduction of 1.3.6,8-THN and 1.3.8-THN to scytalone and vermelone, respectively. Its strongest inhibitory effect is on the reduction of 1.3.8-THN. This results in theaccumulation of flaviolin, 2-HJ, and their re lated shunt products, 1.2.4.5.7-pentahydroxynaphthalene (1.2.4.5.7-PHN), 1.2.4.5-tetrahydroxynaphthalene (1.2.4.5-THN), and 1.4.5-trihydroxynaphthalene (1.4.5-THN) are extremely unstable and have not been isolated from fungi.cultivated in media with high (30−50 µg/mL) concentrations oftricyclazole. The halophilic ascomycetous black yeasts Hortaeawerneckii, Phaeotheca triangularis and Trimmatostroma salinumaccumulated 4,8-dihydroxytetralone (4,8-DHT) in cultures noninhibitedby TR (Kogej et al. 2004) (Fig. 7). Small amounts of4-hydroxyscytalone (4-HS) (Fig. 7) have been reported in wild-typecultures of Curvularia lunata non-inhibited by TR (Rižner & Wheeler2003), as well as of scytalone in Thielaviopsis basicola (Wheeler &Stipanovic 1979) and Sporothrix schenckii (Romero-Martinez et al.2000). This means that products which are typical for cultures ofblack yeasts inhibited by tricyclazole (TR) were also found in noninhibitedcultures.In our earlier investigations (Yurlova & Sindeeva 1996) we provedthe presence of intracellular and extracellular laccase activity of 14above mentioned strains of black yeasts. Tricyclazole decreasedlaccase activity (Yurlova & Sindeeva 1995). Tyrosinase, whichoxidises tyrosine, was not found in any of the strains investigated(Table 1) (Yurlova & Sindeeva 1995). On the basis of the presentdata we hypothesise that black yeasts contain a multipotentpolyphenoloxidase able to oxidise substrates characteristicfor o-diphenoloxidases and p-diphenoloxidases. Such kind ofmultipotent polyphenoloxidase has previously been observed inthe marine bacterium Marinomonas mediterranea (Fernandez etal. 1999). The melanisation process might involve other enzymesand more substrates than those commonly recognised. Themechanism of biosynthesis of black yeast melanins remains to befurther elucidated.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe are grateful to Drs N.N. Stepanichenko and L.N. Ten, Tashkent State University,Uzbekistan, for assistance in obtaining TLC data.REFERENCESBell AA, Wheeler MH (1986). Biosynthesis and function of <strong>fungal</strong> melanins. AnnualReviews in Phytopathology 24: 41–451.Butler MJ, Day AW (1998). Fungal melanins: a review. Canadian Journal ofMicrobiology 44: 1115–1136.Blinova MI, Yudintzeva NM, Kalmykova NV, Kuzminykh EV, Yurlova NA,Ovchinnikova OA, Potokin IA (2003). Effects of melanins from black yeastfungi on proliferation and differentiation of cultivated human keratinocytes andfibroblasts. International Journal of Cell Biology 27: 135–146.Butler MJ, Gardiner RB, Day AW (2004). Use of the black yeast Phaeococcomyces48
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