The Office of Graduate Programs is pleased to announce that Jiazhi Da will be defending their thesis entitled “Purification and Characterization of Growth-Inhibitory Compounds from 2 Genera of British Columbia Wild Mushrooms: Fomitopsis and Phaeolus” as a candidate for the degree Master of Science in Biochemistry. We encourage you to view the defence online. The details on the defence and how to join are included below.

DATE: August 14, 2020

TIME: 9:30 AM

LINK TO JOIN: https://unbc.zoom.us/j/68220442849?pwd=SGRwSXRqY1AyTVIxL3JSK0pJTGdRZz09

Meeting ID: 682 2044 2849

Password: 685947

To ensure the defence proceeds with no interruptions, please mute your audio and video on entry and do not share your screen inadvertently. The meeting will be locked to entry 5 minutes after it begins, ensure you are on time.

ABSTRACT: Modern science is currently working to characterize the beneficial compounds from mushrooms and their potential as pharmaceutical drugs. In this thesis, eight British Columbian wild mushroom collections (3 species), comprising Fomitopsis pinicola, Phaeolus schweinitzii and Phaeolus sp., were screened for growth-inhibitory potential. Out of 28 crude extracts, 15 exhibited strong growth-inhibitory activity. For the Phaeolus sp. collection, liquid-liquid extraction, size-exclusion chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) were used to purify the growth-inhibitory compound of interest. NMR analyses confirmed its identity as hispidin, a known potent anti-cancer compound. Another compound with a mass to charge ratio of 283.2 in hexane extract of Phaeolus sp. was detected by HPLC-MS. This study provides the foundational work for further isolation of small molecule(s) from the three mushroom species and shed light on the profile of Phaeolus sp. as a source of growth-inhibitory compounds.