This review covers the isolation, structural determination, biological activities and biomimetic synthesis of all natural dimeric sesquiterpenoids, along with a detailed discussion of the biogenesis of these metabolites. Syntheses leading to the revision of structures have also been included, and 368 references are cited.

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Modification of natural products with prenyl groups and the ensuing oxidative transformations are important for introducing structural complexity and biological activities. Understanding the different mechanisms Nature performs prenylation can lead to new enzymatic tools. Penigequinolones (1) are potent insecticidal alkaloids that contain a highly modified ten-carbon prenyl group. Here we reveal an iterative prenylation mechanism for installing the ten-carbon unit using two aromatic prenyltransferases (PenI and PenG) present in the gene cluster of 1 from Penicillium thymicola. The initial Friedel-Crafts alkylation is catalyzed by PenI to yield the dimethylallyl quinolone 6. The five-carbon side chain is then dehydrogenated by a Flavin-dependent monooxygenase to an aryldiene 9, which serves as the electron-rich substrate for a second alkylation with dimethylallyl diphosphate to yield a stryrenyl product 10. The completed, oxidized ten-carbon prenyl group is then shown to undergo further structural morphing to yield yaequinolone C 12, the immediate precursor of 1. Our studies therefore uncover an unprecedented prenyl chain extension mechanism in natural product biosynthesis.

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[structures: see text] Lathyranoic acid A (1), the first secolathyrane diterpenoid with an unprecedented skeleton, and a new diterpenoid Euphorbia factor L11 (2) were isolated from the seeds of Euphorbia lathyris. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods. A biogenetic route involving an enzymatic Baeyer-Villiger oxidation as the key step was postulated for the transformation of 2 to 1 and mimicked by an unusual chemical Baeyer-Villiger oxidation.

Biotransformation of huperzine A (hupA) by a fungal endophyte, Ceriporia lacerate HS-ZJUT-C13A, afforded compounds 1-5 and three tremulane sesquiterpenoids, 6-8. Huptremules A-D (1-4) feature unusual sesquiterpenoid-alkaloid hybrid structures that integrate the characteristics of fungal metabolites (tremulane sesquiterpenoids) and the exogenous substrate (hupA). These results support the use of fungal endophytes as biocatalysts for the biotransformation of natural products, particularly those originating from the host plant.

Fungal genomes carry many gene clusters seemingly capable of natural products biosynthesis, yet most clusters remain cryptic or down-regulated. Genome mining revealed an unconventional paraherquonin-like meroterpenoid biosynthetic gene cluster in the chromosome of Neosartorya glabra. The cryptic or down-regulated pathway was activated by constitutive expression of pathway-specific regulator gene berA encoded within ber biosynthetic gene cluster. Chemical analysis of mutant Ng-OE: berA extracts enabled the isolation of four berkeleyacetal congeners, in which two of them are new. On the basis of careful bioinformatic analysis of the coding enzymes in the ber gene cluster, the biosynthetic pathway of berkeleyacetals was proposed. These results indicate that this approach would be valuable for discovery of novel natural products and will accelerate the exploitation of prodigious natural products in filamentous fungi.

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