Neocosmospora Explained

Neocosmospora is a genus of fungi in the family Nectriaceae.

The genus was established by Smith in 1899. Species in the genus are saprobes (processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter), endophytes (a fungus that lives within a plant for at least part of its life cycle), and plant and animal pathogens and they are commonly found in soil, plant debris, living plant material, air and water (Sandoval-Denis et al. 2019;^[1] Guarnaccia et al. 2021).^[2]

Species

As accepted by Species Fungorum;^[3]

• Neocosmospora arxii
• Neocosmospora boninensis
• Neocosmospora endophytica
• Neocosmospora floridana
• Neocosmospora indica
• Neocosmospora kurunegalensis
• Neocosmospora leucaenae
• Neocosmospora magnoliae
• Neocosmospora obliquiseptata
• Neocosmospora parva
• Neocosmospora rekana
• Neocosmospora rubicola
• Neocosmospora striata
• Neocosmospora striatispora
• Neocosmospora thailandica
• Neocosmospora tuaranensis

Uses of Neocosmospora species

Bioassay-guided fractionation of a fungus Neocosmospora sp. resulted in the isolation of three new resorcylic acid lactones, 'neocosmosin A' (2), 'neocosmosin B' (3) and 'neocosmosin C' (4). As well as three known resorcylic acid lactones, 'monocillin IV' (1), 'monocillin II' (5) and radicicol (6) which were also isolated and identified, where compounds 4–6 show good binding affinity for the human opioid receptors. These findings have important implications for the potential psychoactive effects with this class of compounds.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Sandoval-Denis . M. . Lombard . L. . Crous . P.W. . Back to the roots: a reappraisal of Neocosmospora. . Pers. Mol. Phylogeny Evol. Fungi . 2019 . 43 . 90–185.
2. Guarnaccia . V. . Van Niekerk . J. . Crous . P. . Sandoval-Denis . M. . Neocosmospora spp. associated with dry root rot of citrus in South Africa. . Phytopathol. Mediterr. . 2021 . 60 . 1 . 79–100.
3. Web site: Species Fungorum - Search Page - Neocosmospora . www.speciesfungorum.org . 20 July 2023.
4. Gao J, Radwan MM, León F, Dale OR, Husni AS, Wu Y, Lupien S, Wang X, Manly SP, Hill RA, Dugan FM, Cutler HG, Cutler SJ . Neocosmospora sp.-derived resorcylic acid lactones with in vitro binding affinity for human opioid and cannabinoid receptors . Journal of Natural Products . 76 . 5 . 824–8 . May 2013 . 23659286 . 3723356 . 10.1021/np300653d .