Six New Antimicrobial Metabolites from the Deep-Sea Sediment-Derived Fungus Aspergillus fumigatus SD-406

Six new metabolites, including a pair of inseparable mixtures of secofumitremorgins A (1a) and B (1b), which differed in the configuration of the nitrogen atom, 29-hydroxyfumiquinazoline C (6), 10R-15-methylpseurotin A (7), 1,4,23-trihydroxy-hopane-22,30-diol (10), and sphingofungin I (11), together with six known compounds (2–5 and 8–9), were isolated and identified from the deep-sea sediment-derived fungus Aspergillus fumigatus SD-406. Their structures were determined by detailed spectroscopic analysis of NMR and MS data, chiral HPLC analysis of the acidic hydrolysate, X-ray crystallographic analysis, J-based configuration analysis, and quantum chemical calculations of ECD, OR, and NMR (with DP4+ probability analysis). Among the compounds, 1a/1b represent a pair of novel scaffolds derived from indole diketopiperazine by cleavage of the amide bond following aromatization to give a pyridine ring. Compounds 1, 4, 6, 7, 10 and 11 showed inhibitory activities against pathogenic bacteria and plant pathogenic fungus, with MIC values ranging from 4 to 64 μg/mL.

Vascular Epiphytic Medicinal Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Agents: Their Ethnopharmacological Uses, Chemical Composition, and Biological Activities

This is an extensive review on epiphytic plants that have been used traditionally as medicines. It provides information on 185 epiphytes and their traditional medicinal uses, regions where Indigenous people use the plants, parts of the plants used as medicines and their preparation, and their reported phytochemical properties and pharmacological properties aligned with their traditional uses. These epiphytic medicinal plants are able to produce a range of secondary metabolites, including alkaloids, and a total of 842 phytochemicals have been identified to date. As many as 71 epiphytic medicinal plants were studied for their biological activities, showing promising pharmacological activities, including as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer agents. There are several species that were not investigated for their activities and are worthy of exploration. These epipythes have the potential to furnish drug lead compounds, especially for treating cancers, and thus warrant indepth investigations.

Crystal structure of (4S,4aS,6aR,6bR,12aS,12bR,14aS,14bR)-3,3,6a,6b,9,9,12a-heptamethyloctadecahydro-1H,3H-4,14b-ethanophenanthro[1,2-h]isochromene, C30H50O

C30H50O, orthorhombic, P212121 (no. 19), a = 6.7397(7) Å, b = 12.0404(12) Å, c = 30.864(3) Å, V = 2504.6(4) Å3, Z = 4, Rgt (F) = 0.0555, wR ref(F 2) = 0.1234, T = 293(2) K.

(22S)-6-O-ACETYL-21βH-HOPANE-3β,6β,22,29-TETROL FROM OAKMOSS (EVERNIA PRUNASTRI)

A novel hopanoid triterpene, (22S)-6-O-acetyl-21betaH-hopane-3beta,6beta,22,29-tetraol, was isolated from oakmoss (Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach.), as identified from 1H, 13C, DEPT, COSY, NOESY, HSQC and HMBC NMR, MS and IR spectroscopy. During recrystallisation a new compound, 30-nor-6-O-acetyl-3beta,6beta-dihydroxy-21alphaH-hopan-22-one, was formed by a formal loss of methanol from the dihydroxypropyl moiety. No biological activity was found for the naturally occurring compound upon testing against a series of fish and human pathogenic bacteria.