title: Polyketide and benzopyran compounds of an endophytic fungus isolated from Cinnamomum mollissimum: biological activity and structure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study bioactivity and compounds produced by an endophytic Phoma sp. fungus isolated from the medicinal plant Cinnamomum mollissimum.
  
  
  METHODS
  Compounds produced by the fungus were extracted from fungal broth culture with ethyl acetate. This was followed by bioactivity profiling of the crude extract fractions obtained via high performance liquid chromatography. The fractions were tested for cytotoxicity to P388 murine leukemic cells and antimicrobial activity against bacteria and pathogenic fungi. Compounds purified from active fractions which showed antibacterial, antifungal and cytotoxic activities were identified using capillary nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, mass spectrometry and admission to AntiMarin database.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three known compounds, namely 4-hydroxymellein, 4,8-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-3-methyl-3,4-dihydro-1H-isochromen-1-one and 1-(2,6-dihydroxyphenyl) ethanone, were isolated from the fungus. The polyketide compound 4-hydroxymellein showed high inhibitory activity against P388 murine leukemic cells (94.6%) and the bacteria Bacillus subtilis (97.3%). Meanwhile, 4,8-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-3-methyl-3,4-dihydro-1H-isochromen-1-one, a benzopyran compound, demonstrated moderate inhibitory activity against P388 murine leukemic cells (48.8%) and the fungus Aspergillus niger (56.1%). The second polyketide compound, 1 (2,6-dihydroxyphenyl) ethanone was inactive against the tested targets.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings demonstrate the potential of endophytes as producers of pharmacologically important compounds, including polyketides which are major secondary metabolites in fungi.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Science Programme, School of Diagnostic and Applied Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Santiago
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Murray Herbert Gibson
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Munro
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Science Programme, School of Diagnostic and Applied Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Jacinta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Santhanam
keywords: Antimicrobial; Cinnamomum mollissimum; Endophytic fungi; HPLC bioactivity profiling