Bioactive Compounds from the Cultured Broth of the Fungus Polycephalomyces nipponicus and Active Extracts from the Root of Smilax verticalis

Abstract

Cordytropolone (134) and (-)-leptosphaerone A (354), were isolated from the culture broth of the fungus Polycephalomyces nipponicus. The structures of these two compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic methods and from a comparison of the spectroscopic data with those reported previously. The structure of 134 was confirmed by X-ray crystallography for the first time while the leptosphaerone class, compound 354, was first isolated as its (+)-antipode from the fungus Polycephalomyces (Cordyceps). The fermentation process was monitored weekly by HPLC analysis for 12 weeks. The predominant compound 134 was produced at ~1 mg/mg of dry extract at weeks 11 and 12. Compound 134 exhibited modest antipathogenic fungi activity against Collectrichum musae, C. capsici, C. gloeosporioides, Fusarium spp. TFPK301, F. spp. FOC1708 and Pestalotia spp. with the percentage of mycelial growth inhibition (PGI) values of 3.74 ± 0.70, 12.86 ± 1.43, 0.91 ± 0.56, 5.46 ± 0.56, 7.93 ± 0.61, and 18.75 ± 5.24%, respectively, at 25 microgram/milliliter.

The root, stem and leaf of S. verticalis were small scale extracted in methanol. The methanol extracts from the root (SV-R), stem (SV-S) and leaf (SV-L) were tested for their antifungal, antioxidant, cytotoxic and antibacterial activities. The SV-R showed antifungal activity against six pathogenic fungal strains (Pestalotia spp., Colletotrichum capsica, C. musae, C. gloeosporioides, Fusarium spp. Foc 1708 and F. pp. TFPK301) with the percentage of mycelial growth inhibition (PGI) in the range of 3.61 ± 3.39-14.33 ± 3.84. The antioxidant activity of the SV-R (IC50 35.76 ± 1.10 microgram/milliliter) was higher than the SV-S (IC50 56.09 ± 1.33 microgram/milliliter) and SV-L (IC50 90.68 ± 1.67 microgram/milliliter) by DPPH method. These three extracts had no cytotoxic (MCF-7, KB cancer cell lines and Vero cell lines) antiviral (HSV-1) and antibacterial activities.