Antiinsectan Natural Products from Fungal Sclerotia

将研究真菌菌核次生代谢的化学研究。菌核是许多真菌生存和繁殖的关键生理结构。生态学的考虑和间接证据表明，菌核可能含有其他真菌组织中未发现的新的抗虫代谢物。阻止食真菌昆虫取食的菌核代谢物的出现对真菌化学生态学具有重要意义。将测试硬核提取物对生态相关和农业重要昆虫的影响。一种抗虫提取物已经上市。活性代谢物将通过色谱方法分离，并使用现代光谱技术进行鉴定。将进行实验以确定这些化合物是否集中在菌核中。调查也将扩大到包括相关的真菌体（即ascostromata）。这些研究将为真菌次生代谢的基本重要、很少被研究的方面提供见解，并将允许进一步探索新的抗虫天然产物的独特来源。有了这笔奖金，有机合成计划将支持爱荷华大学的詹姆斯·b·格洛尔博士的研究。格洛尔博士将把他的研究重点放在真菌的一种特殊组织结构——菌核上，作为一种可能具有抗虫活性的新型天然产物的来源。这对生物化学和农业以及化学工业的研究都有潜在的好处。

Chemical studies of secondary metabollities from fungal sclerotia will be studied. Sclerotia are key physiological structures vital to the survival and propagation of many fungal species. Ecological considerations and circumstantial evidence suggest that sclerotia may contain new antiinsectan metabolites not found in other fungal tissues. The occurrence of sclerotial metabolites that deter feeding by fungivorous insects would be very significant to fungal chemical ecology. Sclerotial extracts will be tested for effects against both ecologically relevant and agriculturally important insects. A pool of antiinsectan extracts is already available. Active metabolites will be isolated by chromatographic methods, and identified using modern spectroscopic techniques. Experiments will be performed to determine whether these compounds are concentrated in the sclerotia. Investigations will also be extended to include related fungal bodies (i.e., ascostromata). These studies will provide insight into fundamentally significant, rarely-studied aspects of fungal secondary metabolism, and will permit further exploration of this unique source of new antiinsectan natural products. %% With this award, the Organic Synthesis Program will support the research of Dr. James B. Gloer at the University of Iowa. Dr. Gloer will focus his research on a specialized tissue structure of fungi, the sclerotia, as a source of new natural products that may have antiinsectan activity. This has the potential to benefit research in biochemistry and agriculture as well as in the chemical industry.