ent-Herqueidiketal and epi-Peniciherqueinone Isolated from a Mushroom Derived Fungus Penicillium herquei YNJ-35.

A new polyaromatic metabolite, ent-herqueidiketal (1), and a new phenalenone derivative, epi-peniciherqueinone (2), along with twelve known compounds 3-14, were isolated from the fungus Penicillium herquei YNJ-35, a symbiotic fungus of Pulveroboletus brunneopunctatus collected from Nangunhe Nature Reserve, Yunnan Province, China. The structures of 1-14 and the absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were determined by their spectroscopic data or by their single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis or optical rotation values. Compound 1 showed strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213) with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 8 µg/mL. In the cytotoxicity assays, compound 1 showed weak inhibitory activity against breast cancer MCF-7 and mice microglial BV2 cells with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50 ) of 17.58 and 29.56 µM; compound 14 showed stronger cytotoxicity against BV2 and MCF-7 cells with IC50 values of 6.57 and 10.26 µM.

Longibrachiamide A, a 20-Residue Peptaibol Isolated from Trichoderma longibrachiatum Rifai DMG-3-1-1.

Longibrachiamide A (1), a new 20-residue peptaibol, along with three known ones (2-4), were isolated from the fungus Trichoderma longibrachiatum Rifai DMG-3-1-1, isolated from a mushroom Clitocybe nebularis (Batsch) P. Kumm, which was collected from coniferous forest of northeast China in our previous work. The structure of longibrachiamide A (1) was determined by its NMR and ESI-MS/MS data, the absolute configuration of 1 was further determined by Marfey's analyses. And the complete NMR data of 2-4 were also reported for the first time. The similar CD spectra of 1-4 showed that they all had mixed 310 -/α-helical conformations. Compounds 1-4 showed strong cytotoxicities against BV2, A549 and MCF-7 cells, and also showed moderate inhibitory effects against the tested Gram-positive bacteria, including MRSA T144 and VRE-10.

Two alkenyl phenol derivatives from the fungus Pestalotiopsis clavata JSQ 12 isolated from the mushroom Lanmaoa asiatica.

Two new alkenyl phenol derivatives, namely pestalol F (1) and pestalol G (2), along with two known compounds, pestalachloride A (3) and pestalotiopsin J (4), were isolated from the culture of the fungus Pestalotiopsis clavata JSQ 12. The structures of these compounds were primarily elucidated by MS, NMR and specific rotation data analysises. These secondary metabolites of Pestalotiopsis clavata were reported for the first time. Compound 2 displayed interesting cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 cell line with the IC50 value of 29.16 µM, whereas compound 3 exhibited moderate activity towards A549 cell line with the IC50 value of 35.71 µM. The positive control 5-FU showed cytotoxic effects on MCF-7 and A549 cell lines with the respective IC50 values of 26.70 and 26.07 µM. Compounds 1 and 2 displayed mild antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus with MIC values of 128 and 64 µg/mL (MIC of positive control, penicillin, was 0.016 µg/mL), respectively.

Sesquiterpenoid derivatives isolated from a liquid culture of Hypholoma capnoides 819.

Nine previously undescribed sesquiterpenoids, named as capnoidones A-G (1-6 and 8) and capnoidols A and B (7 and 9), along with three known sesquiterpenoids, fascicularones A, B, and G (12, 11 and 10), were isolated from the fermentation products of the mushroom Hypholoma capnoides 819 (Strophariace). The structures of these compounds were determined through MS and NMR experiments along with electronic circular dichroism analysis. Optical rotation calculations and X-ray diffraction experiments were also conducted for confirmation of the structures. Compounds 1 and 4 displayed mild cytotoxicity towards BV2 microglial cells in mice, while compound 4 exhibited mild cytotoxicity against breast cancer MCF-7 cells. However, none of the compounds demonstrated antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus or Escherichia coli.