Present study relates to the effect of valproic acid, an epigenetic modifier on the metabolic profile of Aspergillus fumigatus (GA-L7), an endophytic fungus isolated from Grewia asiatica L. Seven secondary metabolites were isolated from A. fumigatus (GA-L7) which were identified as: pseurotin A, pseurotin D, pseurotin F2, fumagillin, tryprostatin C, gliotoxin and bis(methylthio)gliotoxin. Addition of valproic acid in the growth medium resulted in the alteration of secondary metabolic profile with an enhanced production of a metabolite, fumiquinazoline C by tenfolds. In order to assess the effect of valproic acid on the biosynthetic pathway of fumiquinazoline C, we studied the expression of the genes involved in its biosynthesis, both in the valproic acid treated and untreated control culture. The results revealed that all the genes i.e. Afua_6g 12040, Afua_6g 12050, Afua_6g 12060, Afua_6g 12070 and Afua_6g 12080, involved in the biosynthesis of fumiquinazoline C were overexpressed significantly by 7.5, 8.8, 3.4, 5.6 and 2.1 folds respectively, resulting in overall enhancement of fumiquinazoline C production by about tenfolds.

Velutibol A (1), a new 14-residue peptaibol was isolated from the Himalayan cold habitat fungus Trichoderma velutinum. The structural characterization was carried out by 1D and 2D NMR studies, and tandem mass studies, and Marfey's method aided in determining the stereochemistry of the amino acids. The CD analysis revealed folding of the peptide in a 3₁₀-helical conformation. The intramolecular H-bonding was determined by an NMR-VT experiment. Cytotoxic evaluation was carried out against a panel of cancer cell lines. The cell cycle assay was carried out on human myeloid leukaemia (HL-60) cells and revealed the formation of apoptotic bodies and DNA damage in a dose-dependent manner. Three other peptaibols namely velutibol B (2), velutibol C (3), and velutibol D (4) were also isolated in trace amounts from the psychotropic fungus and characterized through tandem mass spectroscopy and Marfey's analysis.

The Rosellinia sanctae-cruciana extract was subjected to detailed liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry studies. A total of 38 peaks were annotated to m/z 508.26, m/z 510.28, m/z 524.26, m/z 526.28, m/z 540.26, m/z 542.27, and m/z 584.28 [M + H]⁺. The accurate mass, mutually supported UV/vis spectra, and database search identified these compounds as cytochalasins. Systematic dereplication helped identify a peak at m/z 540.26 [M + H]⁺ as the new compound. Further, the identified compound was purified by high-performance liquid chromatography and characterized by 2D NMR to be 19,20-epoxycytochalasin N1, a new optical isomer of 19,20-epoxycytochalasin-N. It exhibited substantial cytotoxicity with IC₅₀ values ranging from 1.34 to 19.02 μM. This study shows a fast approach for dereplicating and identifying novel cytochalasin metabolites in crude extracts.

The bioassay-guided fractionation of the extract of aerial parts of Enicostemma littorale resulted in two fractions 3 and 4 with moderate and potent antioxidant activity, respectively. The purification of fraction 3 gave swertiamarin (1), while the LCMS profile of fraction 4 unveiled the presence of another constituent along with swertiamarin. The extensive purification of fraction 4 led to the unusual isolation of mangiferin (2) from E. littorale. The uncommon isolation of mangiferin from E. littorale motivated us to conduct its in silico and in vitro screening as an anti-inflammatory agent. Both studies have proved mangiferin to be a promising anti-inflammatory molecule with a binding energy of -9.17 kcal/mol against Cyclooxygenase-2 protein and IC₅₀ of 146.07 nanomolar. This study is the first report of the isolation of mangiferin, a xanthone glycoside from E. littorale.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

This manuscript reports a chemical investigation involving reverse-phase semipreparative HPLC-based isolation, followed by mass spectrometric and NMR-based characterization of three endophytic fungi recovered from Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. The study yielded two compounds (1-2) from ALE-75 (Sacharicola bicolor), three (3-5) from ALE-85 (Aspergillus pseudoglaucus), and one (6) from ALE-121 (Aspergillus eurotium). The extract from Aspergillus pseudoglaucus exhibited antioxidant potential (IC50 = 11.92 µg/mL in DPPH assay) and moderate cytotoxicity against lung (A549, IC50 = 35 µg/ml), colon (HCT-116, IC50 value of 45.4 µg/ml), and breast (T47D, IC50 value of 2.8 µg/ml) cancer cells, with growth inhibition of 89%, 77%, and 74% at 100 µg/ml. ALE-121 extract showed strong cytotoxicity against lung (A549, IC50 = 11.2 µg/ml), colon (HCT-116, IC50 = 12.5 µg/ml) and breast (T47D, IC50 = 15 µg/ml) cancer cells, with inhibition rates of 85%, 84%, and 75% at 100 µg/ml. Compound 6 (Austrocortinin) showed strong cytotoxicity against these cancer lines, with inhibition rates of 89%, 87%, and 67% at 10 µg/ml. Compound 1 was initially identified through the fermentation process of the endophytic fungus Coriolopsis sp. J5, which was isolated from the mangrove Ceriops tagal and compound 2 in Penicillium chrysogenum LF066 from the marine sponge Tethya aurantium. Compounds 3-5, originally found in Chaetomium globosum and Aspergillus flavus, whereas Compound 6 was initially discovered in the Australian Cortinarius toadstool. Although these compounds have been identified previously, this is the first instance of their reporting in the aforementioned endophytic fungi isolated from Albizia lebbeck.