Extracts from Four Species of Xylotrophic Basidiomycetes Growing in the Middle Urals (Russia) Revealed Cytotoxic Effects on Model Object Drosophila melanogaster

In our study, four species of wood-decaying fungi with perennial fruiting bodies were used as the source of biologically active compounds (BACs) − Inonotus obliquus (chaga), Fomitopsis pinicola, Fomes fomentarius, and Ganoderma applanatum. Fungi have a wide range of secondary metabolites but are used much less frequently than plants in both folk and official medicine. Fungotherapy could be considered a promising trend in the development of modern natural therapy. Therefore, qualitative and quantitative analyses of the extracts were carried out. The cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of aqueous-alcoholic extracts, obtained from fungal fruiting bodies were assessed after application on Drosophila melanogaster. The frequency of the larvae lethally, SMART mosaicism, the GstD1 gene expression and the DNA damage were studied. The addition of 0.5% of fungal extracts to the food substrate did not cause a significant change in the lethality level in D. melanogaster. All extracts caused an increase in the degree of DNA damage. The greatest effect was caused by extract from I. obliquus and G. applanatum. Chaga extract caused a significant increase in the expression level of the GstD1 gene. F. fomentarius extract exhibited the lowest level of DNA damage and reduced GstD1 gene expression. The F. fomentarius extract showed a pronounced antiproliferative effect. So, Drosophila melanogaster could be used as the preliminary test object for early studies of biological activities from natural raw materials as it is much cheaper compared with cell lines and vertebrate models.