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Title: BIOACTIVE NATURAL PRODUCTS FROM A SCLEROTIUM-COLONIZING ISOLATE OF HUMICOLA FUSCOATRA

Author
item JOSHI, BIREN - U OF IA, IOWA CITY, IA
item GLOER, JAMES - U OF IA, IOWA CITY, IA
item Wicklow, Donald

Submitted to: Journal of Natural Products
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/26/2002
Publication Date: 10/8/2002
Citation: Joshi, B.K., Gloer, J.B., Wicklow, D.T. 2002. Bioactive natural products from a sclerotium-colonizing isolate of humicola fuscoatra. Journal of Natural Products. 65:1734-1737.

Interpretive Summary: There is an urgent need for new sources of antifungal agents, and fungi that kill other fungi offer a potential source of novel antifungal agents useful to agriculture and medicine. The fungus Humicola fuscoatra produced antifungal agents that strongly inhibited the growth of Aspergillus flavus, a fungal pathogen of corn and an opportunistic pathogen of humans. Chemical studies revealed that some of these antifungal metabolites are new to science while others represent known compounds. Opportunistic fungal infections have become increasingly common in recent years and new classes of environmentally friendly agricultural fungicides are also needed.

Technical Abstract: Chemical studies of an organic extract from solid-substrate fermentations of the mycoparasitic fungus Humicola fuscoatra NRRL 22980, originally isolated as a colonist of Aspergillus flavus sclerotia, afforded two new unrelated compounds that we have named fuscoatroside (1) and fuscoatramide (2). The structures of these metabolites were elucidated by analysis of NMR and MS data. Fuscoatroside (1) is a triterpenoid glycoside that exhibited activity in antifungal assays against Aspergillus flavus. This extract also contained the known metabolites 7-deoxysterigmatocystin, sterigmatocystin, isosclerone, and decarestrictines A1 and I.