Morphological and molecular identification of filamentous Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus isolated from compound feeds in South Africa.

Isolation of filamentous species of two Aspergillum genera from compound feeds produced in South Africa, and subsequent extraction of their individual DNA in this study, presents a simple but rapid molecular procedure for high through-put analysis of the individual morphological forms. DNA was successfully isolated from the Aspergillus spp. from agar cultures by use of a commercial kit.

Australian Angiogram Review Panel--monitoring the use of photodynamic therapy with verteporfin.

Background: Photodynamic therapy with verteporfin for choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to macular disease received an Australian government grant in 2002 to fund treatment for 3 years. Funding was restricted to subfoveal predominantly classic CNV where visual acuity was at least 6/60. Access to this funding was via review of angiograms by an expert panel, the Angiogram Review Panel (ARP), managed by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.

Restricted conformation analogues of an anthelmintic cyclodepsipeptide.

Six analogues of the anthelmintic cyclodepsipeptide PF1022A were prepared, each containing a small ring fused to the macrocycle to restrict the number of conformations the larger ring can adopt. It was anticipated that such conformational changes could lead to enhanced biological activity and selectivity. The analogues form two series of three members each.

Marcfortine and paraherquamide class of anthelmintics: discovery of PNU-141962.

Three distinct chemical classes for the control of gastrointestinal nematodes are available: benzimidazoles, imidazothiazoles, and macrocyclic lactones. The relentless development of drug resistance has severely limited the usefulness of such drugs and the search for a new class of compounds preferably with a different mode of action is an important endeavor. Marcfortine A (1), a metabolite of Penicillium roqueforti, is structurally related to paraherquamide A (2), originally isolated from Penicillium paraherquei.

Generation of a small library of cyclodepsipeptide PF1022A analogues using a cyclization-cleavage method with oxime resin.

N-Methyloctadepsipeptides attached to an oxime resin were cyclized by heating them in refluxing ethyl acetate for 2 days to give cyclodepsipeptide PF1022A analogues. By using this method, we generated a small library of PF 1022A analogues (2), several of which possessed anthelmintic activity, based on an in vitro assay.