Since the discovery of penicillin by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928,
several fungal-derived natural products have been discovered and
developed as new drugs, such as the antibacterial agent cephalosporin
C from Cephalosporium acremonium,1–3 the immunosuppressive
drug cyclosporine from Tolypocladium inflatum4,5 or the cholesterollowering
agent lovastatin from Aspergillus terreus.6 However, the
frequent re-isolation of known metabolites from fungi has turned
the interest of natural product chemists to hitherto less investigated
ecological niches, such as arctic glaciers, deep-sea hydrothermal vents
or hypersaline lakes.7,8 Fungi that live at elevated temperatures,
at an acidic or alkaline pH, high pressure, high-salt concentration
and/or low-nutrient concentration are called extremophiles, and have
developed unique metabolic mechanisms to produce bioactive
secondary metabolites as a response to environmental stress.9–11 Thus,
extremophilic fungi are attracting considerable attention in recent
years as new promising sources for biologically active compounds with
potential pharmaceutical applications.12–13