An Australian marine tunicate-derived fungus, Talaromyces sp. CMB-TU011 was subjected to a program of analytical microbioreactor (MATRIX) cultivations, supported by UHPLC-QTOF profiling, to reveal conditions for producing a new class of extensively N-methylated 11-12 residue linear peptides, talaropeptides A-D (2-5). The structures for 2-5, inclusive of absolute configurations, were determined by a combination of detailed spectroscopic and chemical (e.g., C3 and C18 Marfey's) analyses. We report on the biological properties of 2-5, including plasma stability, as well as antibacterial, antifungal and cell cytotoxicity. The talaropeptide mega non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) is described, as second only in size to that for the fungus-derived immunosuppressant cyclosporine (an 11-residue extensively N-methylated cyclic peptide).
Keywords: NRPS; Talaromyces; fungus; linear peptide; marine-derived; natural product; secondary metabolite; talaropeptide.