Cytotoxic metabolites from the cultures of endophytic fungi from Panax ginseng

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2013 Sep;97(17):7617-25. doi: 10.1007/s00253-013-5015-6. Epub 2013 Jun 23.

Abstract

Two strains of endophytic fungi, Penicillium melinii Yuan-25 and Penicillium janthinellum Yuan-27, with strong anti-Pyricularia oryzae activity, were obtained from the roots of Panax ginseng. Based on bioactivity-oriented isolation, a new benzaldehyde derivative, ginsenocin (1), together with six known compounds, methyl 2,4-dihydroxy-3,5,6-trimethylbenzoate (2), 3,4,5-trimethyl-1,2-benzenediol (3), penicillic acid (4), mannitol (5), ergosterol (6), and ergosterol peroxide (7), were separated from the EtOAc extract of Yuan-25 culture, while brefeldin A (8) was isolated as the major constituent from the EtOAc extract of Yuan-27 culture. The chemical structures were determined based on spectroscopic methods. All the isolated compounds 1-8 were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against six human cancer cell lines. Brefeldin A (8) was the most cytotoxic constituent against all the tested cell lines with IC50 values <0.12 μg/ml, while ginsenocin (1) and penicillic acid (4) also exhibited potent cytotoxicity with IC50 values ranging from 0.49 to 7.46 μg/ml. Our results suggest that endophytic fungi isolated from P. ginseng are a promising natural source of potential anticancer agents.

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / metabolism*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / toxicity*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Endophytes / chemistry
  • Endophytes / genetics
  • Endophytes / isolation & purification
  • Endophytes / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Molecular Structure
  • Panax / microbiology*
  • Penicillium / chemistry
  • Penicillium / genetics
  • Penicillium / isolation & purification
  • Penicillium / metabolism*
  • Phylogeny
  • Plant Roots / microbiology

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents