New antibacterial depsidones from an ant-derived fungus Spiromastix sp. MY-1.

Six new (1-6) and seven known depsidones (7-13) were isolated from the culture of an ant (Monomorium chinensis)-derived fungus Spiromastix sp. MY-1. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis including high resolution MS, 1D and 2D NMR data.

Cytotoxic Xanthone Derivatives from the Mangrove-Derived Endophytic Fungus Z4.

The mangrove-derived endophytic fungus Z4 produced seven new xanthone derivatives, including four new tetrahydroxanthones (-), one new chromone (), one new xanthone (), and one new xanthone dimer (), together with one known compound, globosuxanthone B (). Their structures were determined by an extensive analysis of 1D and 2D NMR, HRESIMS, ECD, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. In cytotoxic activity assays, compound showed cytotoxicity against three carcinoma cell lines with IC values less than 10 μM.

New p-terphenyls from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus sp. YXf3.

Five new p-terphenyls named prenylterphenyllin D (1), prenylterphenyllin E (2), 2'-O-methylprenylterphenyllin (3), 4-O-methylprenylterphenyllin (4) and 3'-O-methylterphenyllin (5) together with seven known compounds (6-12), were isolated from cultures of Aspergillus sp. YXf3. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by extensive MS and NMR analyses.

Pictet-Spengler reaction-based biosynthetic machinery in fungi.

The Pictet-Spengler (PS) reaction constructs plant alkaloids such as morphine and camptothecin, but it has not yet been noticed in the fungal kingdom. Here, a silent fungal Pictet-Spenglerase (FPS) gene of Chaetomium globosum 1C51 residing in Epinephelus drummondhayi guts is described and ascertained to be activable by 1-methyl-L-tryptophan (1-MT). The activated FPS expression enables the PS reaction between 1-MT and flavipin (fungal aldehyde) to form "unnatural" natural products with unprecedented skeletons, of which chaetoglines B and F are potently antibacterial with the latter inhibiting acetylcholinesterase.