A scientific group has discovered a new mushroom species in a national park in southern Ecuador that is believed to have antibacterial potential, especially to inhibit bacteria that cause illnesses such as diarrhea, pneumonia or meningitis.
As reported Friday by Ecuador’s National Biodiversity Institute (Inabio), it is ‘Gloeocystidiellum lojanense’, a “resupinated mushroom and corticoid with antibacterial potential against Escherichia coli”.
The discovery was made by researchers from Inabio and Universities Técnica Particular de Loja (TPL) in Ecuador and the Belgian universities in Lieja and Leuven.
The discovery was made in the Cajanuma sector of Podocarpus National Park, a biodiversity reserve in the Andean province of Loja, in the south of the country.
Researchers Andrea Jaramillo-Riofrío, Cony Decock, Juan Pablo Suárez, Ángel Benítez, Gabriel Castillo and Darío Cruz described the new strain in a scientific publication, stating that it “displayed antibacterial activity against the four types of the E.coli species.”
An inhibitory effect of the mushroom on the bacteria “may be due to the fact that these E.coli pathotypes are less virulent and resistant,” Inabio said.
He also argued that pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, cause infections and are the cause of public health problems, due to the high rate of genetic alterations, mechanisms of resistance or improper and excessive use of antimicrobials in treatment.
In addition, he explained that “bacterial resistance to antibiotics increases the rate of infection, such as ‘Gram-negative’ bacteria affecting 61.3% of infections, ‘Gram-positive’ (34.8%), yeasts (2%) and others pathogens. (1.9%), mainly in developing countries”.
He added that the family of ‘Enterobacteriaceae’ or ‘Gram-negative’ bacteria “is the largest and heterogeneous group of clinical importance causing infections in humans, mainly through genera such as Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Klebsiella, Proteus, Serratia, Shigella and Salmonella”.
Inabio also mentioned that “of these infections, 80% correspond to urinary tract infections, pneumonia, diarrhea, meningitis, sepsis, and endotoxic shock,” when he mentioned the human health potential of the new mushroom species found in Podocarpus National Park.
Ecuador, considered one of the most diverse countries in the world, has a high diversity of mushrooms that require taxonomic study for their bioactive potential and potential applications in areas such as human health, the Institute added.
“Mushrooms represent a promising group of interest for the search for bioactive substances, in addition to a very diverse group of organisms, estimated at between 1.5 million and five million, of which only a small fraction (one hundred thousand) are described,” Inabio emphasized.
Source: DN
