Melleolide, a new antibiotic from Armillaria mellea

✍ Scribed by Sharon L. Midland; Richard R. Izac; Richard M. Wing; A.I. Zaki; D.E. Munnecke; James J. Sims

• Book ID: 104220882
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1982
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 220 KB
• Volume: 23
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0040-4039
• DOI: 10.1016/s0040-4039(00)87383-9

✦ Synopsis

Melleolide, a new sesquiterpenoid orsellinate, has been Isolated Armillaria mellea. Its structure was elucidated by X-ray crystallography. Armillaria mellea the prevalent "oak root fungus" is known to produce from cultures of chemical defense substances to eliminate its bacterial predators.1 By X-ray crystallography we have now identified the first such compound isolated from laboratory cultures of this fungus. Melleolide (I) is the orsellinate of a sesquiterpenediol of the protoilludane skeleton. It exhibits antifungal activity against Cladosporium cucumerinum2 and is one of a family of related esters which have antibiotic activity against a number of gram positive bacteria.3 The only previously isolated protoilludane derivatives are illudol (II)4 and neoilludol (III)5 from Clitocybe illudens, and A6-protoilludene andAy-protoilluden-6-01 from Fomitopsis insularis. Other naturally occurring esters of orsellinlc acid are the lichen depsldes, lecanoric and gyrophoric acid, and a fungal pigment, mitorubin (IV)7 from Penicillium rubrum. Orsellinic