Characterization and antitumor activity of polysaccharides from different fungal taxa in the Gharbiya governorate, Egypt.

Fifteen different locations in the Gharbiya governorate were surveyed for higher and filamentous fungi. Collected isolates were tested for polysaccharide production, then polysaccharide producers were identified, and the highest polysaccharide yield was recorded for Beauveria bassiana ethanolic extract (8.68 % w/w), followed by Aureobasidium pullulans ethanolic extract (7.42 % w/w), then Trametes odorata cold water extract (3.17 % w/w), Inonotus hispidus hot water extract (2.84 % w/w), while the least value was recorded for Bjerkandera adusta ethanolic extract (0.79 % w/w). The produced polysaccharides were characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), revealing arabinose as the most common sugar for Aureobasidium pullulans (24.01 %) and Trametes odorata (17.86 %). As a confirmation of the antitumor activity of their polysaccharides, Trametes odorata extracrt showed normal appearance and a high count of healthy cells, and high mortality of HepG-2. While HepG-2 and MCF-7 were distorted, their count was observably reduced under the effect of Aureobasidium pullulans extract.