Four new bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoids, aspergiterpenoid A (1), (-)-sydonol (2), (-)-sydonic acid (3), and (-)-5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-(2',6',6'-trimethyltetrahydro-2H- pyran-2-yl)phenol (4) together with one known fungal metabolite (5) were isolated from the fermentation broth of a marine-derived fungus Aspergillus sp., which was isolated from the sponge Xestospongia testudinaria collected from the South China Sea. Four of them (1-4) are optically active compounds. Their structures and absolute configurations were elucidated by using NMR spectroscopic techniques and mass spectrometric analysis, and by comparing their optical rotations with those related known analogues. Compounds 1-5 showed selective antibacterial activity against eight bacterial strains with the MIC (minimum inhibiting concentrations) values between 1.25 and 20.0 µM. The cytotoxic, antifouling, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities of these compounds were also examined.
Keywords: Aspergillus sp.; antibacterial; bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoid; sponge-derived fungus.