Isolation of sterols from the marine fungusCorollospora lacera

Biodiscovery of antibacterial constituents from the endolichenic fungi isolated from Parmotrema rampoddense

A total of nine endolichenic fungi were isolated from the foliose lichen Parmotrema rampoddense (Nyl.) Hale. Of the nine endolichenic fungi, three taxa (Fusarium proliferatum, Nemania primolutea, Daldinia eschsholtzii) showed antibacterial activities as determined by the disk diffusion assay against ESKAPE bacterial pathogens. Fusarium proliferatum gave the most active fungal extract with zone of inhibition values of 15 mm and 19 mm against E. faecalis and S. aureus, respectively. Further chromatographic purification of the F. proliferatum ethyl acetate extract led to the isolation and identification of bis(2-ethylhexyl)terephthalate (1), acetyl tributyl citrate (2), and fusarubin (3). Acetyl tributyl citrate (2) exhibited moderate antibacterial activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus.

Chemical constituents of the fermentation broth of the marine-derived fungus Penicillium roqueforti

BACKGROUND

The filamentous fungus Penicillium roqueforti is a well-known multifunctional cell factory of high added-value biomolecules.

AIMS

The objective of this work was to carry out a detailed analysis of the metabolites present in the culture broth of a new marine-derived Penicillium roqueforti strain isolated in the Canary Islands, Spain.

METHODS

The fungal biomass production was carried out in liquid-state fermentation, and after 10-12 days of incubation at 22-25°C, the supernatant mycelia was separated by filtration, and the culture broth (12l) was stored in a refrigerator at 4°C for a subsequent liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane (3×), in accordance with the modified Kupchan method. The volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds were separated by chromatography and analyzed using GC-MS and NMR spectroscopy analyses.

RESULTS

Several volatile organic compounds involved in the fatty acid pathway were identified: a terpenoid, a cyclic dipeptide, phthalates, and an alkyl adipate. In addition, three categories of non-volatile compounds (alkanes, fatty acids and 1-alkanols) were identified by spectroscopy. The results show that the fermented broth of this fungal strain has no mycotoxins under the culture conditions applied.

CONCLUSIONS

It is hoped that this chemo-specific information will offer critical input for improving the biotechnological applications of this filamentous fungus.

Ergosterimide, a new natural Diels-Alder adduct of a steroid and maleimide in the fungus Aspergillus niger

Ergosterimide (1), a natural Diels-Alder adduct of ergosteroid and maleimide, was characterized from the culture extract of Aspergillus niger EN-13, an endophytic fungus isolated from the marine brown alga Colpomenia sinuosa. In addition, four known steroids including (22E,24R)-ergosta-5,7,22-trien-3beta-ol (2), (22E,24R)-ergosta-4,6,8(14),22-tetraen-3-one (3), (22E,24R)-5alpha,8alpha-epidioxyergosta-6,22-dien-3beta-ol (4), and (22E,24R)-ergosta-7,22-dien-3beta,5alpha,6beta-triol (5) were also isolated and identified. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by extensive analysis of 1D and 2D NMR and IR spectra and MS data. The plausible biosynthetic pathway of 1 was also discussed. To the best of our knowledge, 1 is the first natural Diels-Alder adduct of steroid and maleimide reported so far.

26,27-cyclosterols and other polyoxygenated sterols from a marine sponge Topsentia sp

Thirty sterols (1-30) were isolated from bioactive fractions of a marine sponge Topsentia sp., of which 16 were new (1, 2, 8, 10-14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, and 30). They were characterized as sterols with 10 different side chains and as having various functionalities including 5alpha,8alpha-epidioxy (1-9), 5alpha,6alpha-epoxy-7-ol (10-15), 5,8-dien-7-one (24-28), 5-en-3beta-ol (29), and 1(10-->6)abeo-5,7,9-triene-3alpha,11alpha-diol (30) units and included polyoxygenated sterols (16-23). One of the key features of these new sterols is the presence of the (24R,25R,27R)-26,27-cyclo-24,27-dimethylcholestane side chain, whose absolute stereochemistry was defined by an acid-catalyzed ring-opening method and by comparison with the four synthetic isomers of known absolute stereochemistry. The occurrence of several known fungal sterols and relevant new sterols in this sponge suggested their possible origin from symbiotic fungi. Selected compounds were tested against a panel of five human solid tumor cell lines and displayed moderate to marginal cytotoxicity.