title: New asperxanthone and asperbiphenyl from the marine fungus Aspergillus sp.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Marine fungi are of great importance as potential sources of agricultural pesticide leads. To continue work on new and biologically active metabolites from marine fungi, culture extracts of selected isolates were screened for inhibitory activity against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), a typical member of the tobamovirus group of plant viruses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A new difuranxanthone, asperxanthone (1), and a new biphenyl, asperbiphenyl (2), as well as seven known unsaturated fatty acid glycerol esters, were isolated from a selected marine fungus, identified as Aspergillus sp. (MF-93), collected in the Quan-Zhou Gulf. Two-dimensional NMR methods and FAB-MS established the structures of the new compounds. Among the compounds, 1 and 2 showed moderate activity (inhibitory rates 62.9 and 35.5% respectively) in inhibiting multiplication of TMV, higher than that of the other seven known lipids but much lower than that of the extract at the identical concentration of 0.2 mg mL(-1).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Two new compounds, asperxanthone and asperbiphenyl, were identified as active components from Aspergillus sp. (MF-93).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian, PR China.
authors.forename: Zu-Jian
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ming-An
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.forename: Qing-Wei
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D001578:Benzopyrans / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D015394:Molecular Structure; D014027:Tobacco Mosaic Virus / Q000187:drug effects; D044004:Xanthones / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D001578:Benzopyrans; D005227:Fatty Acids; D044004:Xanthones; C539104:asperbiphenyl; C539105:asperxanthone