Abstract
Ganoderma lucidum is a mushroom forming fungus that has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 2,000 years. G. lucidum, also known as lingzhi or reishi, is consumed in several Asian cultures to promote health and longevity. Bioactive molecules with anticancer properties have been isolated and characterized primarily from the species Ganoderma lucidum, and the cytotoxic potential of other species in the genus Ganoderma remains relatively unclear. Bioactive molecules isolated from mushroom fruiting bodies are demonstrated to have cytotoxicity against different cancer cell lines. Triterpenes and polysaccharides are the two major groups of compounds that exhibit antitumor and anti-inflammatory properties both in in vitro and animal studies. Genes involved in the production of triterpenoids are organized into clusters known as secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters and can be easily identified from genome and transcriptome sequencing efforts. Most studies to date have utilized the species G. lucidum for anticancer research. In North America, 12 Ganoderma species have been reported, but little has been done to explore their potential in human cancer cell research although preliminary results have suggested anticancer potential in a few of these species. This calls for efforts to mine for diversity in the anticancer potential of different species in the genus Ganoderma by, 1) analyzing the variation at the nucleotide sequence level and 2) investigating the cytotoxic potential against in vitro cancer cell lines. In this review, we discuss the potential of using the North American Ganoderma species for cytotoxic evaluations against cancer cell lines. Crude extracts from the mushroom fruiting bodies of these species can be evaluated for their cytotoxicity potential, and publicly available genome sequence datasets can be leveraged to explore secondary metabolite gene clusters associated with terpenoid biosynthesis to determine correlation between the two studies. Such studies will help establish the pharmaceutical and nutritional role of natural products from the genus Ganoderma and create opportunities to develop market ready health products.
Recommended Citation
Chao, Abril; Ayangade, Omobolanle A.; Dhillon, Braham; and Gill, Navi
(2024)
"Cytotoxic potential of fungi in the genus Ganoderma,"
Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal: Vol. 2024, Article 2.
Available at:
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/mako/vol2024/iss2/2
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