Biotransformation of a mulinane diterpenoid by Aspergillus alliaceus and Mucor circinelloides

Abstract

The biotransformation of mulin-11,13-dien-20-oic acid (1), a diterpene isolated from extracts of Azorella compacta was evaluated using Aspergillus alliaceus UI 315 and Mucor circinelloides ATCC 7941. Cultures of A. alliaceus containing 1 produced the known metabolite 16-hydroxy-mulin-11,13-dien-20-oic acid (2) in 19.5% yield; alternatively, biotransformation of 1 by cultures of M. circinelloides produced two new metabolites identified as mulin-11,13-dien-16,20-dioic acid (3) and 7α,13β-dihydroxy-mulin-11-en-20-oic acid (4) on the basis of their spectroscopic data.

Keywords:

• Azorella compacta
• Mulinum spp.
• Apiaceae
• Mucor plumbeus
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Prof. Pascal Richomme, University of Angers, France, for carrying ESI-MS and ¹H/¹³C NMR analyses and HMBC experiment, as well as Karla Kú Durán, Erick Ic Caamal and Fabiola Escalante Erosa for technical support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work is part of the master thesis of Stephanie G. Herrera-Canché supported by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (grant number 453865).