Antifungal and antibacterial metabolites from a sclerotium-colornizing isolate of Mortierella vinacea

The known compound methyl 2,4-dihydroxy-3,5,6-trimethylbenzoate (1) and thr ee new related metabolites, which we have named mortivinacins A (2), B (3), and C (4), were identified as metabolites of the fungus Mortierella vinace a. Nicotinic acid (5) was also encountered. This isolate of M. vinacea was obtained from an Aspergillus flavus sclerotium during field studies of scle rotium longevity in soil. Compounds 1-5 were isolated by chromatographic fr actionation of organic extracts from M. vinacea solid-substrate fermentatio n cultures, and the structures were assigned by analysis of NMR and MS data . Compounds 1, 2, and 5 were responsible for the antibacterial and antifung al activities of the extract.