A Comprehensive Review of Hypotheses About the Biological Function of Zearalenone, and a New Hypothesis for the Function of Resorcylic and Dihydroxyphenylacetic Macrolactones in Fungi

• Published in: Toxins Vol. 17; no. 5; p. 226
• Main Authors: Viñas, María, Karlovsky, Petr
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 03.05.2025; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; Antifungal activity; Antifungal agents; Biological effects; chemical defense; Dihydroxybenzoic acid; Dihydroxyphenylacetic acid; dihydroxyphenylacetic acid lactone; Enzymes; Farms; Fungi; Fungi - drug effects; Fungi - metabolism; Fungicides; Fusarium; Fusarium - metabolism; Hogs; Hypotheses; Hypothesis testing; interference competition; Lactones - metabolism; Lactones - pharmacology; Metabolites; Phenylacetates - metabolism; Plant growth; Plant hormones; radicicol; resorcylic acid lactone; Review; Sheep; Toxicity; Virulence factors; Xenoestrogens; Zearalenone; Zearalenone - metabolism; Zearalenone - pharmacology; New York; Netherlands; United States; Japan; Poland; United Kingdom; Nigeria; Switzerland; Germany; United States > US; Minnesota; chemical defense; interference competition; dihydroxyphenylacetic acid lactone; zearalenone; fusaristatin; competition; curvularin; mycoparasitism; radicicol; resorcylic acid lactone

The special metabolite of Fusarium spp. zearalenone (ZEN) exerts estrogenic effects on mammals, stimulates plant growth, stimulates sexual development in fungi, and inhibits fungal growth. These activities inspired hypotheses about the biological function of ZEN. We briefly review the discovery of Z...