title: Evaluation of antibacterial activity of Australian basidiomycetous macrofungi using a high-throughput 96-well plate assay.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The production of antimicrobial compounds by macrofungi is not unexpected because they have to compete with other organisms for survival in their natural hostile environment. Previous studies have indicated that macrofungi contain secondary metabolites with a range of pharmacological activities including antimicrobial agents.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate macrofungi for antimicrobial activity due to the increasing need for new antimicrobials as a result of resistance in the bacterial community to existing treatments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-seven different specimens of macrofungi were collected across Queensland, Australia. Freeze-dried fruiting bodies were sequentially extracted with three solvents: water, ethanol, and hexane. These extracts were tested against representative Gram+ve, Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-ve, Escherichia coli bacteria.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall water and ethanol extracts were more effective against S. aureus than E. coli, whereas a small number of hexane extracts showed better results for their antimicrobial potential against E. coli at higher concentrations only. Encouraging results were found for a number of macrofungi in the genera Agaricus (Agaricaceae), Amanita (Amanitaceae), Boletus (Boletaceae), Cantharellus (Cantharellaceae), Fomitopsis (Fomitopsidaceae), Hohenbuehelia (Pleurotaceae), Lentinus (Polyporaceae), Ramaria (Gomphaceae), and Strobilomyces (Boletaceae) showing good growth inhibition of the pathogens tested.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study establishes the antimicrobial potential of a sample of Australian macrofungi that can serve as potential candidates for the development of new antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. neeraj.bala@uqconnect.edu.au
authors.forename: Neeraj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bala
authors.forename: Elizabeth A B
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Aitken
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fechner
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cusack
authors.forename: Kathryn J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Steadman
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001315:Australia; D001487:Basidiomycota; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays / Q000379:methods*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents