Proximal- and distal-type αKG binding to the Fe( ii ) centre might play a crucial role in fine-tuning the catalysis of αKG-dependent non-haem iron enzymes.

The marine-derived fungus Aspergillus fumigatus MF071, isolated from sediment collected from the Bohai Sea, China, yielded two new compounds 19S,20-epoxy-18-oxotryprostatin A (1) and 20-hydroxy-18-oxotryprostatin A (2), in addition to 28 known compounds (3–30). The chemical structures were established on the basis of 1D, 2D NMR and HRESIMS spectroscopic data. This is the first report on NMR data of monomethylsulochrin-4-sulphate (4) and pseurotin H (10) as naturally occurring compounds. Compounds 15, 16, 20, 23, and 30 displayed weak antibacterial activity (minimum inhibitory concentration: 100 μg/mL). Compounds 18 and 19 exhibited strong activity against S. aureus (minimum inhibitory concentration: 6.25 and 3.13 μg/mL, respectively) and E. coli (minimum inhibitory concentration: 6.25 and 3.13 μg/mL, respectively). A genomic data analysis revealed the putative biosynthetic gene clusters ftm for fumitremorgins, pso for pseurotins, fga for fumigaclavines, and hel for helvolinic acid. These putative biosynthetic gene clusters fundamentally underpinned the enzymatic and mechanistic function study for the biosynthesis of these compounds. The current study reported two new compounds and biosynthetic gene clusters of fumitremorgins, pseurotins, fumigaclavines and helvolinic acid from Aspergillus fumigatus MF071.