First Report of Bioactive Secondary Metabolites from Penicillium hordei PA2 Isolated from Sea Sand in Eastern Algeria

In recent decades, there has been a sustained interest in research into the production of bioactive compounds from the marine environment, as these microorganisms represent an undiscovered biological niche for future use in biotechnology. For this study, fungal strains were isolated from sea sand and their biological activities were evaluated. The marine fungus strain was isolated and identified morphologically and genetically as Penicillium hordei PA2 with accession number ITS: OR513086, β-tubulin: OR545535. According to the determined minimum inhibitory concentration, crude extract showed significant antibacterial activity against the reference strains Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus cereus. This fungus strain also exhibited promising antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic properties. The IC₅₀ values of P. hordei PA2 crude extract were (12.32, 15.83, 1.82 µg/mL), respectively. The fungal extract’s high polyphenol and flavonoid content seems to be the source of its high antioxidant activity. This study’s main objective is to study the cultivable fungal community and identify the metabolites produced using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques. A total of 13 different metabolites were obtained: Boric acid (1), Lactic acid (2), 2,4-Imidazolidinedione (3), Ergosta-5,7-dien-3beta-ol (4), Ingenol (5), Chlorozotocin (6), Methyl glycocholate (7), 14-Epiandrographolide (8), Homogentisic acid (9), Butyl mannoside (10), Yohimban-17-one (11), 13-Retinoic acid (12), 5-hydroxy-7-methoxyflavanone (13). They could constitute a promising reservoir of secondary metabolites with robust pharmacological activity.