Communiols E-H: new polyketide metabolites from the coprophilous fungus Podospora communis

Diversity of biologically active secondary metabolites in the ascomycete order Sordariales

Ascomycetes belonging to the order Sordariales are a well-known reservoir of secondary metabolites with potential beneficial applications. Species of the Sordariales are ubiquitous, and they are commonly found in soils and in lignicolous, herbicolous, and coprophilous habitats. Some of their species have been used as model organisms in modern fungal biology or were found to be prolific producers of potentially useful secondary metabolites. However, the majority of sordarialean species are poorly studied. Traditionally, the classification of the Sordariales has been mainly based on morphology of the ascomata, ascospores, and asexual states, characters that have been demonstrated to be homoplastic by modern taxonomic studies based on multi-locus phylogeny. Herein, we summarize for the first time relevant information about the available knowledge on the secondary metabolites and the biological activities exerted by representatives of this fungal order, as well as a current outlook of the potential opportunities that the recent advances in omic tools could bring for the discovery of secondary metabolites in this order.

Microbiota in Waterlogged Archaeological Wood: Use of Next-Generation Sequencing to Evaluate the Risk of Biodegradation

Waterlogged archaeological wood (WAW) is considered a precious material, first-hand account of past civilizations. Like any organic material, it is subjected to biodegradative action of microorganisms whose activity could be particularly fast and dangerous during the phases of excavation, storage and restoration. The present work aimed to characterize the microorganisms present in WAW during these tricky periods to evaluate the biological risk it is exposed to. The bacterial and fungal communities inhabiting woods coming from two archaeological sites (Pisa and Naples) were investigated through Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS). High-throughput sequencing of extracted DNA fragments was performed using the reversible terminator-based sequencing chemistry with the Illumina MiSeq platform. The analyses revealed that the two archaeological sites showed distinct richness and biodiversity, as expected. In all the WAWs, the bacterial community harbored mainly Proteobacteria, whereas Bacteroidetes was well represented only in Naples communities and taxa belonging to the phyla Chloroflexi only in the Pisa site. Concerning the fungal community, the two sites were dominated by different phyla: Ascomycota for Naples samples and Basidiomycota for Pisa. Interestingly, most of the identified bacterial and fungal taxa have cellulolytic or ligninolytic ability. These results provide new and useful background information concerning the composition of WAW microbiota and the threat it represents for this precious material.

Sparticolins A-G, Biologically Active Oxidized Spirodioxynaphthalene Derivatives from the Ascomycete Sparticola junci

To explore the chemical diversity of metabolites from new species of Dothideomycetes, the ex-type strain of Sparticola junci was investigated. Seven highly oxygenated and functionalized spirodioxynaphthalene natural products incorporating carboxyalkylidene-cyclopentanoid (1-4), carboxyl-functionalized oxabicyclo[3.3.0]octane (5-6), and annelated 2-cyclopentenone/δ-lactone (7) units, sparticolins A-G, were isolated from submerged cultures of the fungus. Their chemical structures including their relative (and absolute) configurations were established through spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic analyses. Sparticolin B (2) exhibited inhibitory activity against the Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, and Staphylococcus aureus, while sparticolin G (7) showed antifungal activities against Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Mucor hiemalis. All other sparticolins were only weakly active against S. aureus and also showed weak activities against the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Compounds 2 and 7 also showed moderate cytotoxic activities against seven mammalian cell lines.

Construction of Fused Oxabicyclic Scaffolds from Glycals and Styrenes via One-Pot Domino Transformations

Triflic acid catalyzed cascade stereoselective reaction of glycals with styrenes delivers complex oxabicyclic scaffolds such as cis-oxadecalins or cis-cyclopentanofurans simply by tweaking the solvent. In the presence of participating solvents like benzene/toluene, cascade Ferrier C-glycosylation and double Friedel-Crafts reaction leads to densely chiral benzo-fused oxadecalins, whereas in DCM, an unprecedented ring-opening, ring-closing sequence generated cis-cyclopentanofurans. An attempt has been made to explain the above cascade sequences via intermediate trapping, kinetic experiments, and Baldwin's rules.

Cytosporinols A-C, new caryophyllene sesquiterpenoids from Cytospora sp

Three new caryophyllene sesquiterpenoids, cytosporinols A-C (1–3), have been isolated from solid cultures of Cytospora sp. The structures of 1–3 were elucidated primarily by NMR spectroscopy, and 3 was further confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The absolute configurations of the C-11 secondary alcohol in 1 and the 6,8-diol moiety in 3 were deduced using the modified Mosher and Snatzke’s method, respectively. Compounds 2 and 3 showed moderate cytotoxicity against HeLa cells.

Stereocontrolled synthesis of substituted bicyclic ethers through oxy-Favorskii rearrangement: total synthesis of (±)-communiol E

The potential of the oxy-Favorskii rearrangement to form branched cis-fused bicyclic ethers was explored. Both tertiary and quaternary centers were constructed in highly stereospecific manners. Methanol and primary amines were effective nucleophiles for the rearrangement. The total synthesis of (±)-communiol E was achieved based on this method.

Horizontal transfer of a large and highly toxic secondary metabolic gene cluster between fungi

Genes involved in intermediary and secondary metabolism in fungi are frequently physically linked or clustered. For example, in Aspergillus nidulans the entire pathway for the production of sterigmatocystin (ST), a highly toxic secondary metabolite and a precursor to the aflatoxins (AF), is located in a ∼54 kb, 23 gene cluster. We discovered that a complete ST gene cluster in Podospora anserina was horizontally transferred from Aspergillus. Phylogenetic analysis shows that most Podospora cluster genes are adjacent to or nested within Aspergillus cluster genes, although the two genera belong to different taxonomic classes. Furthermore, the Podospora cluster is highly conserved in content, sequence, and microsynteny with the Aspergillus ST/AF clusters and its intergenic regions contain 14 putative binding sites for AflR, the transcription factor required for activation of the ST/AF biosynthetic genes. Examination of ∼52,000 Podospora expressed sequence tags identified transcripts for 14 genes in the cluster, with several expressed at multiple life cycle stages. The presence of putative AflR-binding sites and the expression evidence for several cluster genes, coupled with the recent independent discovery of ST production in Podospora [1], suggest that this HGT event probably resulted in a functional cluster. Given the abundance of metabolic gene clusters in fungi, our finding that one of the largest known metabolic gene clusters moved intact between species suggests that such transfers might have significantly contributed to fungal metabolic diversity. PAPERFLICK:

Bioactive jatrophane diterpenes from Euphorbia guyoniana

Chromatographic investigation of the methylenechloride/methanol extract of the aerial parts of Euphorbia guyoniana afforded two jatrophane diterpenes, designated guyonianins E and F, in addition to a known jatrophane diterpene. The structures of the compounds were determined by comprehensive NMR analyses, including DEPT, COSY, HMQC, HMBC, NOESY and HRMS. These compounds exhibited cytotoxicity against human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells with IC(50) values of 35-100 microM.

The Stereoselective Synthesis of the Nonnatural Enantiomers of Communiols A-C. A Stereochemical Correction

A stereoselective synthesis of the nonnatural enantiomers of the fungal metabolites communiols A-C is reported. A stereochemical misassignment has been corrected and the absolute configurations of the natural products have been unambiguously established.