Evaluating Nitrogen-Containing Biosynthetic Products Produced by Saltwater Culturing of Several California Littoral Zone Gram-Negative Bacteria.

The biosynthetic potential of marine-sediment-derived Gram-negative bacteria is poorly understood. Sampling of California near-shore marine environments afforded isolation of numerous Gram-negative bacteria in the Proteobacteria and Bacteriodetes phyla, which were grown in the laboratory to provide extracts whose metabolites were identified by comparative analyses of LC-mass spectrometry and MSn data. Overall, we developed an assemblage of seven bacterial strains grown in five different media types designed to coax out unique secondary metabolite production as a function of varying culture conditions. The changes in metabolite production patterns were tracked using the GNPS MS2 fragmentation pattern analysis tool. A variety of nitrogen-rich metabolites were visualized from the different strains grown in different media, and strikingly, all of the strains examined produced the same new, proton-atom-deficient compound, 1-methyl-4-methylthio-ß-carboline (1), C13H12N2S. Scale-up liquid culture of Achromobacter spanius (order: Burkholderiales; class: Betaproteobacteria) provided material for the final structure elucidation. The methods successfully combined in this work should stimulate future studies of molecules from marine-derived Gram-negative bacteria.

Biosynthetic products from a nearshore-derived gram-negative bacterium enable reassessment of the kailuin depsipeptides.

Sampling of California nearshore sediments resulted in the isolation of a Gram-negative bacterium, Photobacterium halotolerans, capable of producing unusual biosynthetic products. Liquid culture in artificial seawater-based media provided cyclic depsipeptides including four known compounds, kailuins B-E (2-5), and two new analogues, kailuins G and H (7 and 8). The structures of the new and known compounds were confirmed through extensive spectroscopic and Marfey's analyses. During the course of these studies, a correction was made to the previously reported double-bond geometry of kailuin D (4). Additionally, through the application of a combination of derivatization with Mosher's reagent and extensive (13)C NMR shift analysis, the previously unassigned chiral center at position C-3 of the ß-acyloxy group of all compounds was determined. To evaluate bioactivity and structure-activity relationships, the kailuin core (13) and kailuin lactam (14) were prepared by chiral synthesis using an Fmoc solid-phase peptide strategy followed by solution-phase cyclization. All isolated compounds and synthetic cores were assayed for solid tumor cell cytotoxicity and showed only minimal activity, contrary to other published reports. Additional phenotypic screenings were done on 4 and 5, with little evidence of activity.

Azonazine, a novel dipeptide from a Hawaiian marine sediment-derived fungus, Aspergillus insulicola.

Azonazine, a unique hexacyclic dipeptide, was isolated from a Hawaiian marine sediment-derived fungus eventually identified as Aspergillus insulicola. Its absolute configuration, 2R,10R,11S,19R, was established using NMR, HRESIMS, and CD data plus insights derived from molecular models. A possible route for its biogenesis is proposed, and biological properties were explored against cancer cell lines and in an NFκB inhibition assay.