RAPID SCREENING OF DESTRUXINS BY LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS-SPECTROMETRY

A liquid chromatographic/mass spectrometric (LC/MS) method utilizing a n atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) interface and in-sou rce collisionally induced dissociation (CID) was developed for the rap id screening of the cyclic hexadepsipeptides destruxins, produced by t he fungi Metarkizium anisopliae and Trichothecium roseum. The APCI mas s spectra are fully consistent with the high-energy CID data but the s equence ions are abundant over the whole mass range. In addition to 22 known destruxins, two new representatives of this family were detecte d by LC/MS analysis:destruxin Ed(1) and roseotoxin A were isolated and their structures were inferred from MS/MS and NMR data. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.