Fungal Duel between Penicillium brasilianum and Aspergillus nomius Results in Dual Induction of Miktospiromide A and Kitrinomycin A

Michael S. Cowled, John A. Kalaitzis, Andrew Crombie, Rachel Chen, Nicolau Sbaraini, Ernest Lacey, and Andrew M. Piggott

J. Nat. Prod. 2023, 86, 10, 2398–2406

Publication Date: September 22, 2023

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.3c00593

Abstract:

Cocultivation of the fungi Penicillium brasilianum MST-FP1927 and Aspergillus nomius MST-FP2004 resulted in the reciprocal induction of two new compounds, miktospiromide A (1) from A. nomius and kitrinomycin A (2) from P. brasilianum. A third new compound, kitrinomycin B (3), was also identified from an axenic culture of P. brasilianum, along with the previously reported compounds austalide K (4), 17S-dihydroaustalide K (5), verruculogen (6), and fumitremorgin B (7). The structures of 1–3 were elucidated by detailed spectroscopic analysis and DFT calculations, while 4–7 were identified by comparison to authentic standards. The genome of A. nomius MST-FP2004 was sequenced, and a putative biosynthetic gene cluster for 1 was identified. Compound 2 showed activity against murine melanoma NS-1 cells (LD₉₉ 7.8 μM) and the bovine parasite Tritrichomonas foetus (LD₉₉ 4.8 μM).