title: Myrtucommulone production by a strain of Neofusicoccum australe endophytic in myrtle (Myrtus communis).
abstract: Myrtucommulones are acylphloroglucinol compounds reported from myrtle (Myrtus communis) and a few more plant species belonging in the Myrtaceae that have recently attracted the attention of pharmacologists for their anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties. An endophytic strain of Neofusicoccum australe recovered from a myrtle branch was selected based on the bioactivity of its culture extracts, and found to produce myrtucommulones A and D. A mixture of these compounds induced anti-proliferative effects on the human prostatic cancer cell lines DU145 and PC3, with a IC₅₀ of respectively 4.64 and 3.11 mg/l. Along the lines of recent evidences of the ability by endophytic fungi to produce bioactive compounds originally extracted from their host plants, this is the first report of myrtucommulones as secondary metabolites of an endophytic fungal strain. The availability of a microbial strain to be cultured in vitro may provide access to more substantial amounts of these products for further investigations in view of their possible pharmaceutical use.
authors.affiliation: Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Unità di Ricerca CAT, 84018, Scafati, Italy, rosario.nicoletti@entecra.it.
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nicoletti
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ferranti
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caira
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Misso
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Lorenzo
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caraglia
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D060026:Endophytes / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D031651:Myrtus / Q000382:microbiology*; D010696:Phloroglucinol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D010696:Phloroglucinol