Considering the undesirable attributes of synthetic fungicides and the availability of Ficus species in China, the stem of Ficus tikoua Bur. was investigated. One new antifungal pyranoisoflavone, 5,3',4'-trihydroxy-2",2"-dimethylpyrano (5",6":7,8) isoflavone (1), together with two known isoflavones, wighteone (2) and lupiwighteone (3) (with previously reported antifungal activities), were isolated from ethyl acetate extract by bioassay-guided fractionation. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis, such as NMR (¹H-¹H COSY, HMQC, HMBC and NOESY), IR, UV and HRMS, as well as ESI-MSⁿ analyses. The antifungal activities of 1–3 against Phytophthora infestans were evaluated by direct spore germination assay, and the IC₅₀ values were 262.442, 198.153 and 90.365 µg·mL⁻¹, respectively.

NW-G01, produced by Streptomyces alboflavus 313, is a novel cyclic hexapeptide antibiotic with many potential applications, including antimicrobial activity and antitumor agents. This study developed a system for optimizing medium components in order to enhance NW-G01 production. In this study, Plackett-Burman design (PBD) was used to find the key ingredients of medium components, and then response surface methodology (RSM) was implemented to determine their optimal concentrations. The results of PBD revealed that the crucial ingredients related to the production of NW-G01 were (NH₄)₂SO₄, peptone and CaCO₃. A prediction model has been built in the experiments of central composite design and response surface methodology, and its validation has been further verified. The optimal medium composition was determined (g/L): corn starch 15, glucose 15, peptone 3.80, (NH₄)₂SO₄ 0.06, NaCl 1.5, CaCO₃ 1.30, MgSO₄·7H₂O 0.015, K₂HPO₄·3H₂O 0.015, MnCl₂·4H₂O 0.015, FeSO₄·7H₂O 0.015, and ZnSO₄·7H₂O 0.015. Compared with NW-G01 production (5.707 mg/L) in non-optimized fermentation medium, the production of NW-G01 (15.564 mg/L) in optimized fermentation medium had a 2.73-fold increase.

A new sesquiterpene polyol ester with a β-dihydroagarofuran skeleton, NW37 (1), and three known compounds NW13 (2), NW16 (3) and NW35 (4) were isolated by bioassay-guided fractionation from the highly polar MeOH extracts of the root bark of Celastrus angulatus. Their chemical structures were elucidated mainly by analyses of MS and NMR spectral data. The insecticidal activity of compound 1 against 4^th instar Mythimna separata larvae with a KD₅₀ value of 252.3 μg·g^-1 was demonstrated.