Bondarzewia berkeleyi

Bondarzewia berkeleyi is a polypore and has a leathery outside with pores on its undersurface. This mushroom can grow to a quite large size, over 3 feet in diameter. It is also not unusual to find clusters gathered around the base of an oak tree from June to November. It is uncommon but fruits at the same location year after year. Most individual collections provide sufficient material for chemical structure identification.

LIFEPHARMS
Collaborations

LifePharms’ business strategy is to develop collaborations with research companies and academic centers. We intend to capitalize on LifePharms’ natural product libraries and discovery resources to screen against validated therapeutic targets.

LifePharms is interested in forming collaborations in:

DRUG DISCOVERY: Fungi have a long and illustrious history of contributing to drug discovery, including antibiotics, cyclosporine, the statins (mevalonin), ivermectin, hemorrhage and migrane control drugs. Even Taxol is made by a fungus. The fungi in LifePharms’ collections have an astonishing array of primary and secondary metabolites.

AGRICULTURAL/CROP PROTECTION: Strobulurins, which were discovered from a fungus, are a very important and widely utilized agricultural fungicide. Plants typically have to resist bacteria, fungi, and animals very much like fungi need to. It is very likely that the defensive compounds that the mushroom makes will have utility for the crop protection industry.

FOOD SCIENCE: Mushrooms have long been valued for their flavors. Even deadly species such as Amanita pantherina and Amanita virosa are reported to have “excellent” flavors. Also, mushrooms have been used for many years as flavor enhancers and modulators having the effect of altering and enhancing preexisting flavors. There has been some recent research supporting mushrooms connection to a fifth taste sense, umami (savory flavors). See mushroomcouncil.org

Both our polar and nonpolar extract library would be sources for flavored compounds. These chemicals from these organisms have never been screened to discover and develop novel flavors, flavor enhancers, and taste modulators by modern cellular based and receptor based assays.

INDUSTRIAL AND ENERGY ENZMES: Of all the species on Earth, fungi contribute the most to decomposing our terrestrial habitat. Fungi possess the most efficient array of depolymerizing enzymes. Commercial production of fungal enzymes include, but are not limited to, glucoamylases, pectinases, proteases, lipases. LifePharms’s aquaeous extracts were prepared for the purpose of discovering economically important catalytic activities, including those that would be involved in the conversion of cellulosic material into fermentable sugars for the production of ethanol (cellulases, hemicellulases, xylanases). LifePharms’ polar natural product library represents the perfect place to look for new commercial enzymes.

 

Interested potential partners should contact us at: info@lifepharms.com

 

 

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