A Molecular Networking Based Discovery of Diketopiperazine Heterodimers and Aspergillicins from Aspergillus caelatus

J Nat Prod. 2022 Jan 28;85(1):25-33. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.1c00526. Epub 2022 Jan 19.

Abstract

The number of species in Aspergillus section Flavi has recently increased to 36 and includes some of the most important and well-known species in the genus Aspergillus. Numerous secondary metabolites, especially mycotoxins, have been reported from species such as A. flavus; however many of the more recently described species are less studied from a chemical point of view. This paper describes the use of MS/MS-based molecular networking to investigate the metabolome of A. caelatus leading to the discovery of several new diketopiperazine dimers and aspergillicins. An MS-guided isolation procedure yielded six new compounds, including asperazines D-H (1-5) and aspergillicin H (6). Asperazines G and H are artifacts derived from asperazines E and F formed during the separation process by formic acid. Two known compounds, aspergillicins A and C (7 and 8), were isolated from the same strain. Structures were elucidated by analyzing their HR-MS/MS and NMR spectroscopic data. The absolute configuration of asperazines D-F and aspergillicin H were deduced from the combination of NMR, Marfey's method, and ECD analyses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aspergillus / chemistry*
  • Carbon-13 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Depsipeptides / chemistry*
  • Diketopiperazines / chemistry*
  • Dimerization*
  • Mycotoxins / chemistry*
  • Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • Depsipeptides
  • Diketopiperazines
  • Mycotoxins

Supplementary concepts

  • Aspergillus caelatus