NMRium: Teaching nuclear magnetic resonance spectra interpretation in an online platform.

NMRium is the first web-based software that allows displaying, processing, interpretation, and teaching of 1D and 2D NMR data in a user-friendly interface. It can import the most common data formats (e.g., JCAMP-DX, Bruker, Varian, and Jeol). While the scope for the use of NMRium encompasses a variety of applications such as being a component in data repositories or electronic lab notebooks (ELN), performing structure elucidation or preparing raw spectral data for publication, it also excels in enhancing teaching of NMR interpretation. In this paper, we present some current possibilities of this new tool. Several series of exercises are already provided on https://www.nmrium.org/teaching.

Minimum Information Standards in Chemistry: A Call for Better Research Data Management Practices.

Research data management (RDM) is needed to assist experimental advances and data collection in the chemical sciences. Many funders require RDM because experiments are often paid for by taxpayers and the resulting data should be deposited sustainably for posterity. However, paper notebooks are still common in laboratories and research data is often stored in proprietary and/or dead-end file formats without experimental context. Data must mature beyond a mere supplement to a research paper. Electronic lab notebooks (ELN) and laboratory information management systems (LIMS) allow researchers to manage data better and they simplify research and publication. Thus, an agreement is needed on minimum information standards for data handling to support structured approaches to data reporting. As digitalization becomes part of curricular teaching, future generations of digital native chemists will embrace RDM and ELN as an organic part of their research.

Myristic Acid Inhibits the Activity of the Bacterial ABC Transporter BmrA.

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are conserved in all kingdoms of life, where they transport substrates against a concentration gradient across membranes. Some ABC transporters are known to cause multidrug resistances in humans and are able to transport chemotherapeutics across cellular membranes. Similarly, BmrA, the ABC transporter of Bacillus subtilis, is involved in excretion of certain antibiotics out of bacterial cells. Screening of extract libraries isolated from fungi revealed that the C14 fatty acid myristic acid has an inhibitory effect on the BmrA ATPase as well as the transport activity. Thus, a natural membrane constituent inhibits the BmrA activity, a finding with physiological consequences as to the activity and regulation of ABC transporter activities in biological membranes.

Unravelling the biosynthesis of pyriculol in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

Pyriculol was isolated from the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae and found to induce lesion formation on rice leaves. These findings suggest that it could be involved in virulence. The gene MoPKS19 was identified to encode a polyketide synthase essential for the production of the polyketide pyriculol in the rice blast fungus M. oryzae. The transcript abundance of MoPKS19 correlates with the biosynthesis rate of pyriculol in a time-dependent manner. Furthermore, gene inactivation of MoPKS19 resulted in a mutant unable to produce pyriculol, pyriculariol and their dihydro derivatives. Inactivation of a putative oxidase-encoding gene MoC19OXR1, which was found to be located in the genome close to MoPKS19, resulted in a mutant exclusively producing dihydropyriculol and dihydropyriculariol. By contrast, overexpression of MoC19OXR1 resulted in a mutant strain only producing pyriculol. The MoPKS19 cluster, furthermore, comprises two transcription factors MoC19TRF1 and MoC19TRF2, which were both found individually to act as negative regulators repressing gene expression of MoPKS19. Additionally, extracts of ΔMopks19 and ΔMoC19oxr1 made from axenic cultures failed to induce lesions on rice leaves compared to extracts of the wild-type strain. Consequently, pyriculol and its isomer pyriculariol appear to be the only lesion-inducing secondary metabolites produced by M. oryzae wild-type (MoWT) under these culture conditions. Interestingly, the mutants unable to produce pyriculol and pyriculariol were as pathogenic as MoWT, demonstrating that pyriculol is not required for infection.

Terphenyl Derivatives from Allantophomopsis lycopodina.

Three secondary fungal metabolites 1-3 with a benzo[b]naphtho[2,1-d]furan skeleton were isolated from submerged cultures of the ascomycete Allantophomopsis lycopodina. The NMR-based structure elucidation was challenging due to a low H/C ratio of only 0.64 and 0.68, respectively. NMR measurements in two different solvents and the use of NMR experiments such as HSQC-TOCSY and LR-HSQMBC proved to be helpful in this respect. The proposed structures obtained from the comprehensive analysis of the NMR data were verified by comparison of recorded and computed NMR chemical shifts from quantum chemical calculations of several constitutional isomers and were further analyzed with the aid of the DP4 and DP4+ probabilities.

4-Dechloro-14-deoxy-oxacyclododecindione and 14-deoxy-oxacylododecindione, two inhibitors of inducible connective tissue growth factor expression from the imperfect fungus Exserohilum rostratum.

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2), a member of the CCN superfamily of secreted cysteine-rich glycoproteins, is a central mediator of tissue remodeling and fibrosis. CTGF is suggested to be an important down-stream effector of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-ß) signaling and has therefore reached considerable pathophysiological relevance because of its involvement in the pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases, atherosclerosis, skin scarring, and other conditions with excess production of connective tissue. In a search for inhibitors of inducible CTGF expression from fungi, two new macrocyclic lactones, namely 4-dechloro-14-deoxy-oxacyclododecindione (1) and 14-deoxy-oxacylododecindione, (2) along with the previously described congener oxacyclododecindione (3) were isolated from fermentations of the imperfect fungus Exserohilum rostratum. The structure of the compounds were elucidated by a combination of one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Compounds 1 and 2 turned out to inhibit TGF-ß induced CTGF promoter activity in transiently transfected HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner with IC50 values of 1.8 µM and 336 nM, respectively, and also antagonized TGF-ß induced cellular effects including CTGF mRNA levels, CTGF protein expression and tube formation.

Unambiguous structure elucidation of heterocyclic products from condensation-cyclisation reactions of enaminones by 2D INADEQUATE and 15N NMR.

The reaction of enaminones with 3-amino-2-cyanopent-2-enedinitrile can lead to an array of 12 possible products, depending on the reaction pathway and tautomerization. The use of 2D INADEQUATE and (15)N NMR for the unambiguous structure elucidation of the reaction products is discussed in this manuscript.

A new flavone from the roots of Milicia excelsa (Moraceae).

A new flavonoid identified as 2-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-5-hydroxy-8,8-dimethyl-4H,8H-pyrano[2,3-f]chromen-4-one (2'-hydroxyatalantoflavone) (1) was obtained from the roots of Milicia excelsa along with five known compounds including atalantoflavone (2), neocyclomorusin (3), 6-geranylnorartocarpetin (4), cudraxanthone I (5), and betulinic acid (6). The structures of the isolates were established on the basis of their spectral data and by comparison with those reported in the literature.

Sfp-type 4'-phosphopantetheinyl transferase is indispensable for fungal pathogenicity.

In filamentous fungi, Sfp-type 4'-phosphopantetheinyl transferases (PPTases) activate enzymes involved in primary (alpha-aminoadipate reductase [AAR]) and secondary (polyketide synthases and nonribosomal peptide synthetases) metabolism. We cloned the PPTase gene PPT1 of the maize anthracnose fungus Colletotrichum graminicola and generated PPTase-deficient mutants (Deltappt1). Deltappt1 strains were auxotrophic for Lys, unable to synthesize siderophores, hypersensitive to reactive oxygen species, and unable to synthesize polyketides (PKs). A differential analysis of secondary metabolites produced by wild-type and Deltappt1 strains led to the identification of six novel PKs. Infection-related morphogenesis was affected in Deltappt1 strains. Rarely formed appressoria of Deltappt1 strains were nonmelanized and ruptured on intact plant. The hyphae of Deltappt1 strains colonized wounded maize (Zea mays) leaves but failed to generate necrotic anthracnose disease symptoms and were defective in asexual sporulation. To analyze the pleiotropic pathogenicity phenotype, we generated AAR-deficient mutants (Deltaaar1) and employed a melanin-deficient mutant (M1.502). Results indicated that PPT1 activates enzymes required at defined stages of infection. Melanization is required for cell wall rigidity and appressorium function, and Lys supplied by the AAR1 pathway is essential for necrotrophic development. As PPTase-deficient mutants of Magnaporthe oryzea were also nonpathogenic, we conclude that PPTases represent a novel fungal pathogenicity factor.

Drimane sesquiterpenoids from Marasmius sp. inhibiting the conidial germination of plant-pathogenic fungi.

From the basidiomycete Marasmius sp., strain IBWF 96046, three new sesquiterpenoids based on the drimane skeleton were isolated and named marasmene B and marasmals B and C. In this study, their isolation, structure elucidation, and biological evaluation are described. The compounds have a pronounced inhibitory effect on the conidial germination of several plant-pathogenic fungi.

Isolactarane and sterpurane sesquiterpenoids from the basidiomycete Phlebia uda.

Three new sesquiterpenoids, named udasterpurenol A, udalactarane A, and udalactarane B, as well as the known compounds hyphodontal and sterpuric acid have been isolated from the basidiomycete Phlebia uda. These compounds represent the first natural products described from this species. The structures were elucidated by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Udalactaranes A and B were isolated as mixtures with their respective epimeric acetals. These mixtures inhibited the spore germination of the plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium graminearum at 10 and 5 µg/mL, respectively, and were active against Jurkat cells with IC(50) values of 101 and 42 µM, respectively.

Phenguignardic acid and guignardic acid, phytotoxic secondary metabolites from Guignardia bidwellii.

Bioactivity-guided isolation led to the identification of phenguignardic acid (2), a new phytotoxic secondary metabolite from submerged cultures of grape black rot fungus, Guignardia bidwellii. The compound is structurally related to guignardic acid (1), a dioxolanone moiety-containing metabolite isolated previously from Guignardia species. However, in contrast to guignardic acid, which is presumably synthesized from deamination products of valine and phenylalanine, the biochemical precursor for the biosynthesis of the new phytotoxin appears to be exclusively phenylalanine. Guignardic acid was also found in extracts of cultures from Guignardia bidwellii. The phytotoxic activities of both compounds were assessed in plant assays using either detached vine leaves or intact plants. Antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of phenguignardic acid were determined.

Unexpected behavior of enaminones: interesting new routes to 1,6-naphthyridines, 2-oxopyrrolidines and pyrano[4,3,2-de][1,6]naphthyridines.

Reaction of enaminones 1a-d with 2-aminoprop-1-ene-1,1,3-tricarbonitrile (2) in the presence of AcOH/NH4OAc afforded 7-amino-5-oxo-5,6-dihydro-1,6-naphthyridine-8-carbonitrile derivatives 9a-d. On the other hand, 2-aminopyrano[4,3,2-de] [1,6]naphthyridine-3-carbonitriles 20a-c,e were the only obtained products from the reactions of 1a-d with 2 in the presence of AcOH/NaOAc, while 1d afforded [3,5-bis-(4-chloro-benzoyl)-phenyl]-(4-chloro-phenyl)-methanone 21 under the same condition. The reaction of 2 with diethyl acetylenedicarboxylate in the presence of AcOH/NH4OAc afforded (4-cyano-5-dicyanomethylene-2-oxo-2,5-dihydro-1H-pyrrol-3-yl)-acetic acid ethyl ester 15B.

Elucidation of the biosynthesis and degradation of allantofuranone by isotopic labelling and fermentation of modified precursors.

Feeding experiments with the ascomycete Allantophomopsis lycopodina indicated that the potent fungistatic allantofuranone is biosynthesized from phenylalanine. Further experiments with synthetic precursors gave evidence that the naturally occurring polyporic acid serves as a key intermediate in the biosynthesis. In addition to the formation of allantofuranone, its abiotic and metabolic degradation were investigated.

Hirsutane-type sesquiterpenes with uncommon modifications from three basidiomycetes.

From three basidiomycetes, Xeromphalina sp., Stereum sp., and Pleurocybella porrigens, six triquinane sesquiterpenes with unprecendented modifications and a rearranged sesquiterpene related to coriolin C have been isolated. Their isolation, structure elucidation, and biological evaluation are described.

Structure elucidation of hypocreolide A by enantioselective total synthesis.

The nonenolide hypocreolide A was isolated from culture filtrates of the ascomycete Hypocrea lactea. It exhibits moderate antimicrobial activity against various tested fungi and bacteria. Since neither the relative nor the absolute stereochemistry of the compound could be initially assigned, a stereochemically flexible total synthesis was developed. The two stereogenic centers were formed in high enantioselectivity and yield using transition metal catalyzed asymmetric reactions. While attempts to construct the ten-membered lactone in a ring-closing olefin metathesis gave disappointing results, a combination of cross metathesis and macrolactonization provided the title compound in nine steps and 12% overall yield.

Electrochemical formation of N,N'-diarylhydrazines by dehydrogenative N-N homocoupling reaction.

Hydrazines represent a class of compounds of high interest due to their applicability as versatile starting materials in many important transformations. Herein, we report a synthetic approach to hydrazine derivatives using commercially available anilines and an anodic dehydrogenative N-N coupling reaction as the key step.

Xanthepinone, an antimicrobial polyketide from a soil fungus closely related to Phoma medicaginis.

The isolation, biological characterization, and structure elucidation of xanthepinone, a novel antifungal metabolite isolated from the broth of submerged cultures of a soil fungus, are described. Xanthepinone inhibits the conidial germination of Magnaporthe grisea (2 microg/mL), Phytophthora infestans (5 microg/mL), and Botrytis cinerea (10 microg/mL) while showing only weak antibacterial activity; cytotoxicity was not observed up to 50 microg/mL. Molecular taxonomy revealed that the producing strain is close to species in the genus Phoma as well as to uncultured soil fungi and endophytes.

New caloporoside derivatives and their inhibition of fungal spore germination.

In our ongoing screening culture fluid extracts of Gloeoporus (Caloporus) dichrous strain 83065 inhibited the germination of Magnaporthe grisea and Fusarium graminearum spores. While isolating the active metabolites two new caloporosides, caloporoside G and caloporoside H, in addition to the known caloporoside derivatives F-16438G, caloporoside A, and 2-hydroxy-6-(16-hydroxyheptadecyl)benzoic acid were obtained.