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In the course of screening for antifungal agents, we have discovered eight novel compounds, haplofungin A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H, from a culture broth of the fungus strain Lauriomyces bellulus SANK 26899. Haplofungins are composed of an arabinonic acid moiety linked through an ester to a modified long alkyl chain and show potent inhibitory activities against fungal inositol phosphorylceramide (IPC) synthase. Haplofungin A inhibited the activity of IPC synthase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae with an IC(50) value of 0.0015 microg ml(-1). This inhibitor also suppressed the growth of Candida glabrata at the MIC value of 0.5 microg ml(-1).

Eight new inositol phosphorylceramide synthase inhibitors: haplofungin A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H, were discovered in a culture broth of the fungus Lauriomyces bellulus SANK 26899. The planar structures for these haplofungins were elucidated by various spectroscopic analyses and a GC/MS analysis of their degradation products. All eight compounds were found to comprise an arabinonic acid moiety linked through an ester bond to a modified long alkyl chain.

The absolute structure of haplofungin A, a potent fungal inositol phosphoceramide (IPC) synthase inhibitor from Lauriomyces bellulus SANK 26899, was determined by chiral GC/MS analysis, NMR and X-ray crystallographic analysis of the derivatives of degradation products.

Pleofungins (formerly called F-15078) A, B, C and D, novel depsipeptide antifungal antibiotics, were found in a mycelium extract of the producing fungus, Phoma sp. SANK 13899. The structures of pleofungins A, B, C and D were elucidated mainly by various NMR studies. The absolute configurations of the amino acids and N-methyl amino acids of pleofungin A constituents in the hydrolysate were determined by the application of advanced Marfey's method in combination with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of their silylation products with N-methyl-N-(tert-butylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide. Two alpha-hydroxy acid constituents, alpha-hydroxyisocaproic acid and alpha-hydroxyisovaleric acid, were isolated from the hydrolysate and their stereochemistries were determined by their specific rotations.

In the course of a screening for inositol phosphorylceramide (IPC) synthase inhibitors, the novel inhibitors pleofungins A, B, C, and D were found in a mycelial extract of a fungus, Phoma sp. SANK13899. Purification was performed by 50% methanol and ethyl acetate extraction, reversed phase open-column chromatography, and HPLC separations. Pleofungin A inhibited the IPC synthase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus fumigatus at IC(50) values of 16 and 1.0 ng/ml, respectively. The inhibitor also suppressed the growth of Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, and A. fumigatus at MIC values of 2.0, 0.3, and 0.5 mug/ml, respectively. These biological properties indicate that pleofungins belong to a novel class of IPC synthase inhibitors efficacious against A. fumigatus.