New pigments from the terrestrial cyanobacterium Scytonema sp. collected on the Mitaraka inselberg, French Guyana.
Inselbergs are hills rising abruptly from the surrounding plains where cyanobacteria are the only living organisms under conditions of intense solar radiation. A survival mechanism to prevent UV-damage has been associated with synthesis of the ultraviolet-screening, photostable sheath pigment scytonemin. The organic extract of Scytonema sp., collected on the Mitaraka inselberg, French Guyana, yielded three new pigments, tetramethoxyscytonemin (1), dimethoxyscytonemin (2), and scytonine (3), derived from the scytoneman skeleton of scytonemin. These structures were assigned mainly on the basis of (1)H and (13)C NMR and MS experiments.
Bultel-Poncé
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Unité de Chimie et Biochimie des Substances Naturelles Associée au CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 63 Rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France. bultel@mnhn.fr
Felix-Theodose
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F
Sarthou
C
C
Ponge
J-F
JF
Bodo
B
B
D041022:Candida tropicalis / Q000187:drug effects; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000737:chemistry*; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D005616:French Guiana; D006801:Humans; D007211:Indoles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007624:KB Cells; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D015394:Molecular Structure; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D010636:Phenols / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011836:Radiation Tolerance; D012993:Solar Energy; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D014871:Water Microbiology
D007211:Indoles; D010636:Phenols; D010860:Pigments, Biological; C485495:dimethoxyscytonemin; C485501:tetramethoxyscytonemin; C083368:scytonemin