Novel bioactive compounds from insect pathogenic fungi

Several insect pathogenic fungi, including the Chinese medicine Cordyceps sinensis, have been utilized as folk medicines or healthy foods, and some others are important bioinsecticides. However, most of insect pathogenic fungi, naturally rare species, remain chemically unexplored. We have been investigating the secondary metabolites of insect fungi that were collected in Thailand. The studies led to the isolation and structure elucidation of a number of new compounds with diverse chemical structures. In particular, cordyanhydrides and vertihemiptellides possess hitherto unknown skeletons, whereas cordypyridones and hirsutellones exhibit significant antimalarial and antitubercular activities, respectively. These results demonstrate that insect pathogenic fungi are potent sources of novel bioactive compounds.