Glucosidation of betulinic acid by Cunninghamella species.

Microbial transformation of the antimelanoma agent betulinic acid (1) was studied. Preparative scale biotransformation with resting-cell suspensions of Cunninghamella species NRRL 5695 resulted in the production of a fungal metabolite of 1, which has been characterized as 28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl 3beta-hydroxy-lup-20(29)-en-28-oate (2) based on spectral and enzymic data. The in vitro cytotoxicity assay of metabolite 2 revealed no activity against several human melanoma cell lines.