UK mantis forums newsletter

UKMF Newsletter issue 6
Zhang, Y. L., Zhang, J., Jiang, N., Lu, Y. H., Wang, L., Xu, S. H., Wang, W., Zhang, G. F.,
Xu, Q., Ge, ,H. M., Ma, J., Song, Y. C., Tan, R. X., Immunosuppressive Polyketides From
Mantis-associated Daldinia eschscholzii. Journal of the American Chemical Society,
2011, 133 (15): 5931-5940
Abstract: Polyketides with unknown architectures are highly desired for the discovery of
new drugs and agrochemicals. Here, the mantis-associated Daldinia eschscholzii, a fungus
known to produce immunosuppressants dalesconols A and B, was found to simultaneously
generate four novel skeletons capable of shaping the unusual chemistry of the fungal
polyketides, of which seven were structurally unique and substantially immunosuppressive.
In particular, the scaled-up fermentation of the microbe enabled the structural
characterization of minor or "transitional" intermediate polyketides that allowed the
reasonable recognition of the four biosynthetic pathways initiated by condensations of four,
five, six and eight acetate units, respectively. Furthermore, the decarbonylation reaction of
triketone, as in the case of daeschol A, was described for the first time, in addition to the
structural correction of sporothrin C and nodulone. The work provided a set of novel
immunosuppressive molecules that are of significance to drug discovery.
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