Biosynthesis of Ergothioneine and Hercynine by Fungi and Actinomycetales
Open accessAbstract
Unlike other bacteria, aerobic members of the order Actinomycetales show a close biochemical relationship to the fungi by their capacity to synthesize hercynine and ergothioneine. The myxomycete Physarum polycephalum, possessing the same synthetic ability, also shows this relationship. Contrariwise, the unusual position of yeasts as fungi is indicated by the inability of all yeastlike Ascomycetes and all except a few false yeasts to synthesize these two betaines.
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ERG is synthesised by a variety of microbes, especially fungi and actinobacteria.
“The chief organisms capable of its synthesis are fungi and certain yeasts(59,60), though actinobacteria and certain other micro-organisms(60–66), including the slime mould Physarum polycephalum (65), cyanobacteria(67–71) and methylotrophs(72) are also naturally capable of its production.”
From The biology of ergothioneine, an antioxidant nutraceutical (2020) · cites this paper as [65]
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Biosynthesis of Ergothioneine from Endogenous Hercynine in <i>Mycobacterium smegmatis</i>
Genghof, D. S., & Van Damme, O. (1968) · Journal of Bacteriology · doi:10.1128/jb.95.2.340-344.1968 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
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The biology of ergothioneine, an antioxidant nutraceutical
Borodina, I., Kenny, L. C., McCarthy, C. M., Paramasivan, K., Pretorius, E., Roberts, T. J., van der Hoek, S. A., & Kell, D. B. (2020) · Nutrition Research Reviews · doi:10.1017/s0954422419000301 · Cited by 296 · see citing works
Fahey, R. C. (2001) · Annual Review of Microbiology · doi:10.1146/annurev.micro.55.1.333 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
Ergothioneine Antioxidant Function: From Chemistry to Cardiovascular Therapeutic Potential
Servillo, L., D'Onofrio, N., & Balestrieri, M. L. (2017) · Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology · doi:10.1097/fjc.0000000000000464 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
The evolutionary history of the genes involved in the biosynthesis of the antioxidant ergothioneine
Jones, G. W., Doyle, S., & Fitzpatrick, D. A. (2014) · Gene · doi:10.1016/j.gene.2014.07.065 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Cheah, I. K., Ong, R. L. S., Gruber, J., Yew, T. S. K., Ng, L. F., Chen, C. B., & Halliwell, B. (2013) · Free Radical Research · doi:10.3109/10715762.2013.848354 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Bertsova, Y. V., Serebryakova, M. V., Baykov, A. A., & Bogachev, A. V. (2026) · Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects · doi:10.1016/j.bbagen.2025.130886 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Genghof, D. S.
- Affiliations
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Genghof, Dorothy S.
- Venue
- Journal of Bacteriology
- Publisher
- American Society for Microbiology
- Published
- 1970-08
- Volume
- 103
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 475-478
- ISSN
- 0021-9193 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-5530
- PMC
- PMC248105
- OpenAlex
- W1551753761
- Cited by
- 113
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Bacteriology (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Sulfur Compounds in Biology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Polyamine Metabolism and Applications
- Keywords
- ergothioneine, betaine biosynthesis, actinomycetes, fungi, Physarum polycephalum, Myxomycetes, yeast, Ascomycota
- MeSH terms
- Actinomycetales, Betaine, Culture Media, Ergothioneine, Fungi
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