Aminotenuazonic Acid: Isolation, Structure Elucidation, Total Synthesis and Herbicidal Activity of a New Tetramic Acid from Fruiting Bodies of Laccaria Species.

(5S,6S)-Aminotenuazonic acid, a new 3-acyltetramic acid, related to the well-known mycotoxin tenuazonic acid has been isolated from fruiting bodies of Laccaria bicolor. Its structure was mostly established by analysis of its 2D NMR and HR-(+)-ESI-MS spectra. A total synthesis starting from N-Boc-l-isoleucine gave (5S,6S)-aminotenuazonic acid in 8 % yield over nine steps (67 % de). The key steps of the total synthesis are a light-initiated Hofmann-Löffler-Freytag radical chain reaction and a Dieckmann cyclisation. The relative and absolute configurations of the natural product were determined by comparison of its NMR and CD spectra with those of the corresponding enantiopure synthetic compounds. Metabolic profiling of crude extracts of different mushrooms showed that aminotenuazonic acid is present in all four of the investigated Laccaria species. Aminotenuazonic acid shows phytotoxic activities against the root and shoot growth of Lepidium sativum, Pinus sylvestris and Arabidopsis thaliana comparable to those of tenuazonic acid.

Pelianthinarubins A and B, Red Pyrroloquinoline Alkaloids from the Fruiting Bodies of the Mushroom Mycena pelianthina.

Pelianthinarubin A (1) and pelianthinarubin B (2), two previously unknown pyrroloquinoline alkaloids, have been isolated from fruiting bodies of Mycena pelianthina. The structures of these alkaloids have been deduced from their HR-(+)-ESIMS and 2D NMR data. The absolute configurations of the pelianthinarubins A (1) and B (2) were assigned by analysis of the NOE correlations and coupling constants and by comparison of the CD spectra of 1 and 2 and of hercynine obtained by degradation of 1 with suitable compounds of known absolute configuration. The pelianthinarubins A (1) and B (2), which contain an S-hercynine moiety, differ considerably from the known pyrroloquinoline alkaloids from marine organisms and other Mycena species, such as the mycenarubins, the haematopodins, and the sanguinones.

Discovery, Structure Elucidation, and Biological Characterization of Nannocystin†A, a Macrocyclic Myxobacterial Metabolite with Potent Antiproliferative Properties.

Microbial natural products are a rich source of bioactive molecules to serve as drug leads and/or biological tools. We investigated a little-explored myxobacterial genus, Nannocystis sp., and discovered a novel 21-membered macrocyclic scaffold that is composed of a tripeptide and a polyketide part with an epoxyamide moiety. The relative and absolute configurations of the nine stereocenters was determined by NMR spectroscopy, molecular dynamics calculations, chemical degradation, and X-ray crystallography. The compound, named nannocystin A (1), was found to inhibit cell proliferation at low nanomolar concentrations through the early induction of apoptosis. The mode of action of 1 could not be matched to that of standard drugs by transcriptional profiling and biochemical experiments. An initial investigation of the structure-activity relationship based on seven analogues demonstrated the importance of the epoxide moiety for high activity.

Isolation and structural elucidation of armeniaspirols†A-C: potent antibiotics against gram-positive pathogens.

In an antibiotic lead discovery program, the known strain Streptomyces armeniacus DSM19369 has been found to produce three new natural products when cultivated on a malt-containing medium. The challenging structural elucidation of the isolated compounds was achieved by using three independent methods, that is, chemical degradation followed by NMR spectroscopy, a computer-assisted structure prediction algorithm, and X-ray crystallography. The compounds, named armeniaspirol A-C (2-4), exhibit a compact, hitherto unprecedented chlorinated spiro[4.4]non-8-ene scaffold. Labeling experiments with [1-(13)C] acetate, [1,2-(13)C2] acetate, and [U-(13)C] proline suggest a biosynthesis through a rare two-chain mechanism. Armeniaspirols displayed moderate to high in vitro activities against gram-positive pathogens such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin resistant E. faecium (VRE). As analogue 2 was active in vivo in an MRSA sepsis model, and showed no development of resistance in a serial passaging experiment, it represents a new antibiotic lead structure.

The cereal pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum produces a new class of active cytokinins during infection.

The fungal pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum causes important diseases of wheat and barley. During a survey of secondary metabolites produced by this fungus, a novel class of cytokinins, herein termed Fusarium cytokinins, was discovered. Cytokinins are known for their growth-promoting and anti-senescence activities, and the production of a cytokinin mimic by what was once considered as a necrotrophic pathogen that promotes cell death and senescence challenges the simple view that this pathogen invades its hosts by employing a barrage of lytic enzymes and toxins. Through genome mining, a gene cluster in the F. pseudograminearum genome for the production of Fusarium cytokinins was identified and the biosynthetic pathway was established using gene knockouts. The Fusarium cytokinins could activate plant cytokinin signalling, demonstrating their genuine hormone mimicry. In planta analysis of the transcriptional response to one Fusarium cytokinin suggests extensive reprogramming of the host environment by these molecules, possibly through crosstalk with defence hormone signalling pathways.

QSAR-by-NMR: quantitative insights into structural determinants for binding affinity by analysis of 1H/15N chemical shift differences in MMP-3 ligands.

A novel strategy is applied to obtain quantitative insights on factors influencing biological affinity in protein-ligand complexes. This approach is based on the detection of ligand binding by (15)N and (1)H amide chemical shift differences in two-dimensional (15)N-heteronuclear single-quantum correlation spectra. Essential structural features linked to affinity can be extracted using statistical analysis of (15)N and (1)H amide chemical shift differences in congeneric series relative to uncomplexed protein spectra, as demonstrated for 20 MMP-3 inhibitors in complex with human matrix metalloproteinase stromelysin (MMP-3). The statistical analysis using PLS led to a significant model, while its chemical interpretation, highlighting the importance of particular residues for affinity, are in agreement to an X-ray structure of one key compound in the homologue MMP-8 binding site.