Stromata of Trichoderma species having green ascospores were collected in various regions of China. Based on morphology of the sexual and asexual morph, culture characteristics, and sequence analyses of rpb2 and tef1 genes, 17 species with green ascospores were identified. Among them, Trichoderma rosulatum, T. rufobrunneum and T. stipitatum are described as new species, and seven other species are reported for the first time from China. Trichoderma rosulatum produces small bright yellow or pale greenish stromata with dense dark green ostioles and gliocladium-like conidiophores, shows a close relationship to T. thelephoricola, and belongs to the Chlorospora clade. Trichoderma rufobrunneum, which typically forms reddish brown stromata, is recognised as a member of the Harzianum clade. Trichoderma stipitatum is characterised by turbinate, pale yellow to nearly orange stromata and verticillium-like conidiophores; it forms a distinct, independent lineage with strong bootstrap support in the phylogenetic trees. The distinctions between the new species and their close relatives are discussed, and their phylogenetic positions are explored.

Collections of Trichoderma having hyaline ascospores from different areas of China were examined. Using combined analyses of morphological data, culture characters and phylogenetic information based on rDNA sequences of partial nuc translation elongation factor 1-α encoding gene (TEF1-α) and the gene encoding the second largest nuc RNA polymerase subunit (RPB2), three new species, Trichoderma applanatum, T. oligosporum and T. sinoluteum, were discovered and are described. Trichoderma applanatum produces continuous flat to pulvinate, white to cream stromata with dense orange or pale brown ostioles, and simple acremonium-like to verticillium-like conidiophores, belongs to the Hypocreanum clade and is closely related to T. decipiens. Trichoderma oligosporum forms reddish brown stromata with a downy surface, hyaline conidia and gliocladium-like conidiophores, and is closely related to but distinct from T. crystalligenum in the Psychrophila clade. Trichoderma sinoluteum, as a member of the Polysporum clade, is characterized by pale yellow stromata, white pustulate conidiomata, pachybasium-like conidiophores, and hyaline conidia. Differences between the new species and their close relatives are discussed.

Five new botryane sesquiterpenes (1: -5: ), one new cyclopentadepsipeptide (9: ), and two new xanthones (11:  - 12: ), together with 11 known compounds, were isolated from . The structures of the new compounds were identified by comprehensive spectroscopic methods including nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. The cytotoxicity of 1: -19: was evaluated against K562, A549, and ASPC cell lines. Compounds 5, 8, 11, 17: , and 18: showed cytotoxicity against the K562 cell line with more than 50% inhibition at 12.5 µM. As to A549 cell line, compound 8: showed the strongest cytotoxicity with approximately 50% inhibition at 25.0 µM. No compounds showed cytotoxicity against the ASPC cell line.

Reactions between Ln3+ (Ln = Dy, Tb), Cr3+, and glycine (HGly) in aqueous solution led to two pentanuclear compounds, Na3[Dy3Cr2(HGly)6(μ3‐OH)6(H2O)9]·(ClO4)8·Cl4·14H2O (1) and Na3[Tb3Cr2(HGly)6(μ3‐OH)6(H2O)9]·(ClO4)6·Cl6·6H2O (2). Structural analyses showed that both 1 and 2 have a {Ln3Cr2} compressed trigonal‐bipyramidal skeleton in which an axial Cr3+ ion lies above and below the triangular equatorial plane defined by the three Ln3+ ions. Magnetic measurements indicated that 1 and 2 exhibit single‐molecule magnetic behavior with Ea ≈ 14.1 K and τ0 = 4.2 × 10–8 s for 1 and Ea ≈ 13.0 K and τ0 = 6.4 × 10–7 s for 2. Interestingly, the clusters are soluble in aqueous solution. The two terminal water molecules of 1 can be substituted by two monocoordinated 4,4′‐dipyridyl N,N′‐dioxide (dpyo) molecules to afford [Dy3Cr2(HGly)6(dpyo)2(μ3‐OH)6(H2O)7]·(ClO4)9·15H2O (3) with a three‐dimensional cds network formed through π–π interactions. Magnetic analysis indicated that 3 also displays slow relaxation of the magnetization with Ea ≈ 13.24 K and τ0 = 9.16 × 10–8 s.

Two new species of Trichoderma are described based on the collections producing ascomata or asexual morphs on woody substrates, and named as Trichoderma fujianense and T. zonatum. Trichoderma fujianense produces gliocladium to verticillium-like conidiophores, slender to lageniform phialides, green and ellipsoidal to cylindrical conidia. Trichoderma zonatum is characterized by pulvinate, pale yellow to light brown stromata with densely disposed dark green to black ostioles, monomorphic ascospores, simple trichodermalike conidiophores, green, (sub)globose to pyriform conidia. Their phylogenetic positions were investigated inferred from sequence analyses of the combined RNA polymerase II subunit b and translation elongation factor 1-α genes. The results indicate that T. fujianense, along with T. aureoviride and T. candidum, represents an independent lineage with high statistical support. Trichoderma zonatum belongs to the Chlorosporum clade and is associated with but clearly separated from T. rosulatum and T. costaricense. Morphological distinctions and sequence divergences between the new species and their close relatives were discussed.

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The search for novel antibiotics and other bioactive microbial metabolites for potential pharmaceutical, agricultural and industrial applications has been and still is important. [1][2][3][4][5][6] As part of our continuous effort to discover microorganism-derived anti-tumor secondary metabolites, we investigated the bioactive constituents of a strain Streptomyces sp. NEAU-W13. As a result, a new okicenone analog (1, Figure 1) was isolated from the fermentation broth of the strain. In this paper, the isolation, structure determination and cytotoxic activity of compound 1 are described.Strain NEAU-W13 was isolated from a soil sample collected from a farmland located in Haicheng, Liaoning province, China. The organism was isolated using the standard dilution plate method and grown on humic acid-vitamin agar 7 supplemented with nystatin (50 mg l À1 ) and nalidixic acid (20 mg l À1 ). The strain was identified as the genus Streptomyces because its 16S rRNA sequence (accession no: HQ596202 in the GenBank, National Center for Biotechnology Information) exhibited a high-sequence similarity of 99% with that of Streptomyces thermocarboxydus AT37 (accession no: NR026072).The strain was maintained on the YMS medium containing 1% soluble amylum, 0.2% yeast extract, 0.1% KNO 3 and 2% agar, pH 7.0. The seed medium consisted of 2% glucose, 1.5% soybean flour and 0.5% yeast autolysate, pH 7.0. All the media were sterilized at 1211C for 20 min. Slant culture was incubated for 6-8 days at 281C. A total of 10 ml of sterile water was added to the slant of the YMS medium. The spores were scraped and transferred into a sterile tube containing glass beads; the spore suspension was then filtered through six layers of sterile filter cheesecloth and adjusted to 10 7 -10 8 c.f.u ml À1 . A volume of 2.0ml of the spore suspension was inoculated into a 250-ml flask containing 25 ml of seed medium and incubated at 281C for 24 h, shaken at 250 r.p.m. Then, 8 ml of the culture was transferred into a 1-l Erlenmeyer flask containing 100 ml of the producing medium consisting of 0.5% glucose, 1.5% lactose, 2.0% cotton seed powder and 0.3% CaCO 3 , pH 7.0, before sterilization. Fermentation was carried out at 281C for 7 days on a rotary shaker at 250r.p.m.The fermentation broth (30 l) was centrifuged to separate mycelial cake and supernatant. The mycelial cake was extracted with MeOH (5.0 l) and the supernatant was applied to Diaion HP-20 (Mitsubishi Chemicals Company, Tokyo, Japan) and eluted with 95% EtOH. The combined MeOH soluble and the EtOH eluates were concentrated under reduced pressure to give 40 g of crude extract. The crude extract was subjected to a silica gel column (90Â5 cm i.d.; Qingdao Haiyang Chemical Group, Qingdao, China; 100-200 mesh) and eluted with CHCl 3 /MeOH mixture (98:2-70:30, v/v). The active fraction showing cytotoxic activity against the tumor cell line A549 was collected and evaporated to give 830 mg of residue. The residue was chromatographed on Sephadex LH-20 column (GE Healthcare, Glies, UK) and eluted with EtOH. Th...

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