Table 1.

List of some bacteria and fungi that produce microbial melanin pigments.

Group	Microorganism	Objective	Main Finding	Reference
Bacteria	Bacillus cereus	Detection of melanin produced by a wild-type strain of Bacillus cereus	Melanin produced by the wild bacterium was firstly identified and its UV protection to insecticidal proteins was approved	Zhang et al. [61]
	Bacillus thuringiensis	Melanin pigment formation in high temperature	The bacterial cell was able to produce melanin in the presence of L-tyrosine at elevated temperature (42 °C).	Ruan et al. [62]
	Burkholderia cepacia	Attenuation of monocyte respiratory burst activity	Melanin-producing B. cepacia may derive protection from the free-radical-scavenging properties of this pigment.	Zughaier et al. [63]
	Klebsiella sp. GSK	Purification and physicochemical characterization of melanin pigment	A bacterium capable of producing a high amount of melanin from L-tyrosine within 3 days of incubation.	Sajjan et al. [64]
	Pseudomonas stutzeri	Melanin production from Pseudomonas stutzeri isolated from red seaweed Hypnea musciformis	The marine Pseudomonas stutzeri strain produces significant amounts of melanin of about 6·7 g l−1 without L-tyrosine supplementation in the sea-water production medium.	Ganesh Kumar et al. [65]
	Pseudomonas maltophilia Aeromonas media	Novel strain producing high levels of DOPA-melanin and assessment of the photoprotective role of the melanin	A novel melanin-producing bacterium was isolated. The melanin produced by this strain offers effective photoprotection of a commercial bioinsecticide against UV and solar radiation.	Wan et al. [44]
	Stenotrophomonas maltophilia	Isolation of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia from clinical samples and production of melanin pigment	Stenotrophomonas maltophilia was reported as a possible melanin source in the clinical environment, and the isolated bacteria showed production of melanin pigment with rates of strong, moderate, weak, and lack of pigment.	Amoli et al. [66]
Actinomycetes	Nocardiopsis dassonvillei	Extract bioactive melanin pigment from marine actinobacteria, which is not a widespread occurrence.	First report on the production and characterization of melanin from marine by Nocardiopsis dassonvillei.	Kamarudheen et al. [67]
	Streptomyces cyaneus	Optimization of medium conditions using response surface methodology for melanin production by Streptomyces cyaneus and synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles using gamma radiation	The unprecedented achievement was realized for melanin pigment production, (9.898 mg/mL) was obtained by optimized culture condition. Also, 2.0% faba bean’s seed peel maximized melanin (9.953 mg/mL) and hence super-yield (11.113 mg/mL) was produced by a stimulus from gamma irradiation (2.5 kGy).	El-Batal et al. [68]
	Streptomyces spp.	Separation, identification, and analysis of melanin production in Streptomyces	The study reveals that the method of testing melanin production by L-tyrosine or L-dopa as a substrate may be a good criterion for the identification and classification of Streptomyces.	Dastager et al. [69]
Yeasts	Cryptococcus neoformans	melanin role in Cryptococcus neoformans virulence mechanism of action	Melanin appears to contribute to virulence by protecting fungal cells against attack by immune effector cells.	Wang et al. [59]
	Yarrowia lipolytica	Characterization of a nontoxic pyomelanin pigment produced by the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica	The ability of the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica W29 to produce high yield (0.5 mg/mL) extracellular melanin was reported in a culture medium supplemented with L-tyrosine. The purified pigment was found embedded with antioxidant properties	Ben Tahar et al. [70]
	Hortaea werneckii	Melanin is crucial for Hortaea werneckii growth in a hypersaline environment	Melanin has an important role in the ability of the black fungus Hortaea werneckii to survive in hypersaline environments.	Kejžar et al. [71]
Fungi	Amorphotheca resinae	Production and characterization of melanin pigments derived from Amorphotheca resinae	Amorphotheca resinae produced melanin in the peptone yeast extract glucose broth, reaching up 4.5 g/L within 14 days. The structural properties of melanin are similar to eumelanin.	Oh et al. [60]
	Aspergillus bridgeri	Physicochemical characterization and antioxidant activity of melanin	The extracellular pigment was alkali-soluble, acid-resistant, and insoluble in organic solvents and water. The pigment was precipitated and characterized and showed good free radical scavenging activity.	Kumar et al. [72]
	Aspergillus fumigatus	Production of pyomelanin via the tyrosine degradation pathway	The fungus was able to produce pyomelanin, by a different pathway, starting from L-tyrosine. Proteome analysis indicated that the l-tyrosine degradation enzymes are synthesized when the fungus is grown with L-tyrosine in the medium. Homogentisic acid is the major intermediate, and the L-tyrosine degradation pathway leading to pyomelanin is similar to that in humans leading to alkaptomelanin.	Schmaler-Ripcke et al. [73]
	Aspergillus nidulans	Characterization of fungal melanin pigment	The characterization of this pigment indicated the presence of indolic units, which were also found in synthetic DOPA-melanin. The analyses of the elemental composition showed that the pigment extracted from these mutants has a high percentage of nitrogen and, therefore, it cannot be DHN-melanin, which presents only a trace of nitrogen. Taken together, the results obtained in this study indicate that melanin produced by these mutants is DOPA type, representing the first report on the characterization of this type of melanin in A. nidulans.	Gonçalves et al. [74]
	Auricularia auricula	Auricularia auricula melanin and its molecular structure	The nutritional control was very important to promote melanin production, deficiency of tyrosine in the medium led to weak secretion of melanin. Meanwhile, the molecular and structural formulae concluded the presence of eumelanin	Sun et al. [75]
	Cryomyces antarcticus	Multidisciplinary characterization of melanin pigments from the black fungus Cryomyces antarcticus	The fungus possesses the ability to produce both 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN) and L 3–4 dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) melanins, opening interesting scenarios for the protective role against radiation.	Pacelli et al. [76]
	Phyllosticta capitalensis	Characterization of fungal endophyte melanin	First report of Phyllosticta melanin. Melanin in the hyphae of P. capitalensis may be responsible for the success of this fungus as a cosmopolitan endophyte since melanin is known to enhance the survival capability of fungi in stressful environments.	Suryanarayanan et al. [77]
	Pleurotus cystidiosus	Isolation and characterization of melanin pigment from Pleurotus cystidiosus	First report on isolation and characterization of melanin obtained from Pleurotus cystidiosus var. formosensis. The black pigment was confirmed as melanin based on UV, IR, and EPR spectra	Selvakumar et al. [78]
	Spissiomyces endophytica	Characterization and production of melanin by an endophytic fungus	The pigment was extracted, purified, and identified from the dried fungal biomass. The highest fungal pigment yield was observed in glucose yeast extract peptone medium at an initial pH value of 6.0 and 25 °C over three weeks of cultivation, representing the first report on the production and characterization of melanin obtained from the genus Spissiomyces.	Suwannarach et al. [57]