ARS | Publication request: Kipukasins: Nucleoside derivatives from Aspergillus versicolor.

Submitted to: Journal of Natural Products
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 7, 2007
Publication Date: July 3, 2007
Citation: Jiao, P., Mudur, S., Gloer, J., Wicklow, D.T. 2008. Kipukasins: nucleoside derivatives from Aspergillus versicolor. Journal of Natural Products. 70(8):1308-1311. Available: http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/article.cgi/jnprdf/2007/70/i08/pdf/np070241l.pdf.

Interpretive Summary: Fungi that parasitize and kill other fungi offer a potential source of novel bioactive agents useful to agriculture and medicine. The fungus Aspergillus versicolor, isolated from a wood decay fungus found growing on a tree in a montane forest in Hawaii County, Hawaii, was examined for its ability to produce bioactive metabolites. Kipukasins A and B are reported as new fungal metabolites showing modest activity against gram-positive bacteria.

Technical Abstract: Seven new aroyl uridine derivatives (kipukasins A-G; 1-7) were isolated from solid-substrate fermentation cultures of two different Hawaiian isolates of Aspergillus versicolor. The structures of compounds 1-7 were determined by analysis of NMR and MS data. The nucleoside portion of lead compound 1 was assigned as uracil-1-B-D-ribofuranoside by spectral comparison with an authentic standard. The bioactivity of the original A. versicolor extracts was accounted for mainly by the presence of the known metabolite sterigmatocystin, but kipukasins A and B showed modest activity in assays against gram-positive bacteria.