Non-targeted Screening of Natural Products from 288 Fungal Endophytes from Canadian Fruit Crops

Many diverse species of fungi naturally occur as endophytes in plants. The majority of these fungi produce secondary metabolites of diverse structures and biological activities. Culture extracts from 288 fungi isolated from surface-sterilized blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, and grapes were analyzed by LC-HRMS/MS. Global Natural Products Social (GNPS) Molecular Networking modeling was used to investigate the secondary metabolites in the extracts. This technique increased the speed and simplicity of dereplicating the extracts, targeting new compounds that are structurally related. In total, 60 known compounds were dereplicated from this collection and seven new compounds were identified. These previously unknown compounds are targets for purification, characterization, and bioactivity testing in future studies. The fungal endophytes characterized in this study are potential candidates for providing bio-protection to the host plant with a reduced reliance on chemical pesticides.