The vast repertoire of toxic fungal secondary metabolites has long been assumed to have an evolved protective role against fungivory. It still remains elusive, however, whether fungi contain these compounds as an anti-predator adaptation. We demonstrate that loss of secondary metabolites in the soil mould Aspergillus nidulans causes, under the attack of the fungivorous springtail Folsomia candida, a disadvantage to the fungus. Springtails exhibited a distinct preference for feeding on a mutant deleted for LaeA, a global regulator of Aspergillus secondary metabolites. Consumption of the mutant yielded a reproductive advantage to the arthropod but detrimental effects on fungal biomass compared with a wild-type fungus capable of producing the entire arsenal of secondary metabolites. Our results demonstrate that fungal secondary metabolites shape food choice behaviour, can affect population dynamics of fungivores, and suggest that fungivores may provide a selective force favouring secondary metabolites synthesis in fungi.

Adipocyte differentiation is controlled by many transcription factors, but few known downstream targets of these factors are necessary for adipogenesis. Here we report that retinol saturase (RetSat), which is an enzyme implicated in the generation of dihydroretinoid metabolites, is induced during adipogenesis and is directly regulated by the transcription factor peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ). Ablation of RetSat dramatically inhibited adipogenesis but, surprisingly, this block was not overcome by the putative product of RetSat enzymatic activity. On the other hand, ectopic RetSat with an intact, but not a mutated, FAD/NAD dinucleotide-binding motif increased endogenous PPARγ transcriptional activity and promoted adipogenesis. Indeed, RetSat was not required for adipogenesis when cells were provided with exogenous PPARγ ligands. In adipose tissue, RetSat is expressed in adipocytes but is unexpectedly downregulated in obesity, most likely owing to infiltration of macrophages that we demonstrate to repress RetSat expression. Thiazolidinedione treatment reversed low RetSat expression in adipose tissue of obese mice. Thus, RetSat plays an important role in the biology of adipocytes, where it favors normal differentiation, yet is reduced in the obese state. RetSat is thus a novel target for therapeutic intervention in metabolic disease.

[reaction: see text] The DMAP-catalyzed acetylation of octyl beta-D-glucopyranoside with a series of acetylating agents has been investigated. The nature of the counterion of the catalytic DMAP-acetyl complex dramatically influences the outcome of the reaction, indicating that the deprotonation of the transition state is controlling the reaction. Noncovalent interactions of the acetate ion with the substrate seem to direct the acetylation toward secondary hydroxyl groups.

A series of different oligomeric guanidines was prepared by polycondensation of guanidinium salts and four different diamines under varying conditions. The antimicrobial activities were evaluated against two to four microorganisms. MALDI-TOF-MS was used to analyze the different oligomers. It was found that in each case three major product type series are dominating. These series are linear and terminated with one guanidine and one amino group (type A), two amino groups (type B), or two guanidine groups (type C), respectively. By using 1,2-bis(2-aminoethoxy)ethane as the amino component, a considerable amount of two additional product series, consisting of cyclic structures, was detected (type D and E). It turned out that an average molecular mass of about 800 Da is necessary for an efficient antimicrobial activity. Lower Mw's result in a rapid decrease of activity. By using guanidinium carbonate as the starting material, oligomers with low biocidal activity were obtained, which was caused by incorporation of urea groups during the polycondensation. The diamine determines the distance between two guanidinium groups. It was shown that both 1,2-bis(2-aminoethoxy)ethane and hexamethylenediamine give oligomers with high biocidal activity. By increasing the chain length of the diamine, the biocidal activity drops again.

The first total synthesis of the antivirally active glycolipid cycloviracin B(1) (1) is described. The approach is based on a two-directional synthesis strategy which constructs the C(2)()-symmetrical macrodiolide core of the target by an efficient template-directed macrodilactonization reaction promoted by 2-chloro-1,3-dimethylimidazolinium chloride 14 as the activating agent. Attachment of the lateral fatty acid chains to the lactide core thus formed features not only one of the most advanced ligand-controlled addition reactions of a functionalized dialkyl zinc reagent to a polyfunctional aldehyde, but also a highly demanding Julia-Kocienski olefination of a tetrazolyl sulfone bearing electrophilic and base-labile beta-hydroxy ester motifs. By virtue of the flexibility of this synthesis plan, it was possible to prepare a series of macrodiolide cores differing only in the absolute stereochemistry at the branching points as well as a host of model compounds for the fatty acid appendices of cycloviracin. Comparison of these derivatives with the natural product allowed us to establish the as yet unknown absolute stereochemistry of 6 chiral centers of 1 as (3R,19S,25R,3'R,17'S,23'R). Thereby, the (13)C NMR shifts of the anomeric position of the beta-glycosides residing at those positions turned out to be excellent probes for the absolute configuration of the attached aglycones. The concise set of data thus obtained also makes clear that the proposed structure of the fattiviracins, a seemingly closely related family of glycoconjugates, is not matched by the published data. Finally, the biological activity of synthetic 1 and some of the key intermediates obtained en route to this natural product was investigated, showing that the entire construct is necessary for appreciable and selective antiviral activity.