Three new isoquinoline alkaloids from the fermentation of Aspergillus sp. 0338 and their anti-MRSA activities.

There is growing evidence that bioactive substances produced by microbial endophytes have applicability in medicine, agriculture and industry. To enrich the bioactive substances, in our search for new bioactive metabolites from fungi Aspergillus, the phytochemical reinvestigation on the Aspergillus sp. 0338 was carried out, and this led to the isolation of three new (1-3) and five known alkaloids (4-8). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, including extensive 1D and 2D NMR techniques, as well as comparison with literature values. Additionally, compounds 1-3 were evaluated for their anti-MRSA activities. The results revealed that compounds 1-3 exhibited good inhibitions with IZD of 15.2 ± 1.8, 14.6 ± 2.0, and 13.4 ± 2.2 mm, respectively.

C-Alkylated flavonoids from the whole plants of Desmodium caudatum and their anti-TMV activity.

BACKGROUND: Natural products are important sources of biopesticides to control plant virus, and flavonoids are identified as promising anti-tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) agents. Since Desmodium caudatum is a rich source of flavonoids, this study focuses on the discovery of the new anti-TMV active flavonoids from D. caudatum and their possible mode of action. RESULTS: Three new (compounds 1-3) and nine known (compounds 4-12) C-alkylated flavonoids were isolated from D. caudatum. To the best of our knowledge, the framework of 1-3 was reported in natural products for the first time. In addition, 1-3, 5, and 6 showed notable anti-TMV activity with inhibition rates in the range of 35.8-64.3% at a concentration of 50 µg/mL, and these rates are higher than that of positive control (with inhibition rates of 34.6% ± 2.8). In addition, the structure-activity relationship study revealed that the (pyrrol-2-yl)methyl moiety on flavone can significantly increases the activity. This result is helpful to find new anti-TMV inhibitors. CONCLUSION: C-Alkylated flavonoids showed potent activities against TMV with multiple modes of actions. The increase of defense-related enzyme activities, up-regulate the expression of defense related genes, down-regulate the expression of Hsp70 protein by inhibiting the related Hsp genes that are involved in tobacco resistance to TMV. By the actions mentioned earlier, the infection of TMV was influenced, thereby achieving the effects of control of TMV. The successful isolation of the earlier-mentioned flavonoids provide the new source of biopesticides to TMV proliferation, and also contribute to the utilization of D. caudatum. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

A new phenanthropyran and a new biphenanthrene from the rhizomes of Dioscorea septemloba and their antioxidant activities.

A new phenanthropyran, dioscorone B (1), and a new phenanthrene (2), together with seven known compounds (3-9), were isolated from the 75% ethanol extract of Dioscorea septemloba rhizomes. The chemical structures of these compounds were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic methods including NMR, HRESIMS, IR, and UV spectra. Compounds 1-5 were first isolated from genus Dioscorea. The proton and carbon chemical shifts of compounds 1-9 were unambiguously assigned based on the 1D-NMR and 2D-NMR data. Compounds 1-5 and 8-9 were first tested for their antioxidant activities. Compounds 1 and 2 showed excellent activities with IC50 values of 0.07 ± 0.10 µM and 0.13 ± 0.09 µM, respectively.