The fungus Clonostachys rosea is widely distributed all over the world. The destructive force of this fungus, as a biological control agent, is very strong to lots of plant pathogenic fungi. As part of the ongoing search for antibiotics from fungi obtained from soil samples, the secondary metabolites of C. rosea YRS-06 were investigated. Through efficient bioassay-guided isolation, three new bisorbicillinoids possessing open-ended cage structures, tetrahydrotrichodimer ether (1) and dihydrotrichodimer ether A and B (2 and 3), and 12 known compounds were obtained. Their structures were determined via extensive NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and CD spectroscopic analyses and X-ray diffraction data. Compounds 1-3 are rare bisorbicillinoids with a γ-pyrone moiety. The biological properties of 1-15 were evaluated against six different Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Bisorbicillinoids, 2-5, and TMC-151 C and E, 14 and 15, showed potent antibacterial activity.

Hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives (HCAs) are a group of naturally occurring polyphenolic compounds which possess various pharmacological activities. In this work, the interactions of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with six HCA derivatives, including chlorogenic acid (CHA), caffeic acid (CFA), m-coumaric acid (m-CA), p-coumaric acid (p-CA), ferulic acid (FA) and sinapic acid (SA) have been investigated by NMR spectroscopic techniques in combination with fluorescence and molecular modeling methods. Competitive STD NMR experiments using warfarin sodium and L-tryptophan as site-selective probes indicated that HCAs bind to site I in the subdomain IIA of BSA. From the analysis of the STD NMR-derived binding epitopes and molecular docking models, it was deduced that CHA, CFA, m-CA and p-CA show similar binding modes and orientation, in which the phenyl ring is in close contact with protein surface, whereas carboxyl group points out of the protein. However, FA and SA showed slightly different binding modes, due to the steric hindrance of methoxy-substituents on the phenyl ring. Relaxation experiments provided detailed information about the relationship between the affinity and structure of HCAs. The binding affinity was the strongest for CHA and ranked in the order CHA > CFA > m-CA ≥ p-CA > FA > SA, which agreed well with the results from fluorescence experiments. Based on our experimental results, we also conclude that HCAs bind to BSA mainly by hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding. This study therefore provides valuable information for elucidating the mechanisms of BSA-HCAs interaction.

No abstract

Euphorikanin A (1), an unprecedented diterpenoid lactone which possesses a novel 5/6/7/3-fused tetracyclic ring skeleton, was isolated from the roots of Euphorbia kansui. The chemical structure and absolute stereochemistry were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic methods and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound 1 exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against two human tumor cell lines HeLa and NCI-446. A proposed biosynthetic pathway of compound 1 is also described.

No abstract