Identification and structure elucidation of epoxyjanthitrems from Lolium perenne infected with the endophytic fungus Epichloë festucae var. lolii and determination of the tremorgenic and anti-insect activity of epoxyjanthitrem I.

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© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Abstract

Epoxyjanthitrems I-IV (1-4) and epoxyjanthitriol (5) were isolated from seed of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) infected with the endophytic fungus Epichloë festucae var. lolii. Although structures for epoxyjanthitrems I-IV have previously been proposed in the literature, this is the first report of a full structural elucidation yielding NMR (Nuclear magnetic resonance) assignments for all five epoxyjanthitrem compounds, and additionally, it is the first isolation of epoxyjanthitriol (5). Epoxyjanthitrem I induced tremors in mice and gave a dose dependent reduction in weight gain and feeding for porina (Wiseana cervinata), a common pasture pest in New Zealand. These data suggest that epoxyjanthitrems are involved in the observed effects of the AR37 endophyte on livestock and insect pests.

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Finch, S. C., Prinsep, M. R., Popay, A. J., Wilkins, A. L., Webb, N. G., Bhattarai, S., … Lane, G. A. (2020). Identification and structure elucidation of epoxyjanthitrems from Lolium perenne infected with the endophytic fungus Epichloë festucae var. lolii and determination of the tremorgenic and anti-insect activity of epoxyjanthitrem I. Toxins (Basel), 12(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12080526

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