Isolation and characterization of marine-derived Mucor sp. for the fermentative production of tyrosol

• A previously undescribed marine Mucor sp. was isolated from marine red algae.
• Fungal strain was identified based on morphological and phylogenic characters.
• Tyrosol was identified as a major secondary metabolite of the strain.
• Optimum culture conditions for production of tyrosol were identified.
• The strain produced 0.28 mM tyrosol under optimum conditions.

An investigation of marine red algae surface-associated fungal communities led to the isolation of a previously undescribed Mucor strain. Many characteristic features of the genus Mucor, including sporangiophores, sporangium, sporangiospores and columellae, were apparent in scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the isolated strain. The sequence of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA revealed that the strain exhibits 97% homology to the genus Mucor. In a search for active compounds isolated by an ethyl acetate extract of the strain, tyrosol (2-(4-hydroxyphenyl) ethanol) was identified as a major secondary metabolite present in the culture broth. Remarkably, the tyrosol production level was considerably higher than that of reported tyrosol producing microorganisms. The optimal conditions for the fermentative production of tyrosol by the new strain were identified, including culture media, incubation period, temperature and pH. These findings clearly demonstrate that this novel strain has the potential for development as a natural source of tyrosol for industrial purposes.