Fusartricin, a sesquiterpenoid ether produced by an endophytic fungus Fusarium tricinctum Salicorn 19

An endophytic fungus Salicorn 19 was isolated from Salicornia bigelovii Torr. and identified as Fusarium tricinctum using a combination of translation elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1 alpha) and beta-tubulin (beta-TUB) gene sequence analysis. A bioassay-guided fractionation led to a new sesquiterpenoid ether with unique skeleton fusartricin (1), and two known compounds fusarielin B (2) and enniatin B (3) from the culture of Salicorn 19. Their chemical structures were elucidated based on ESI-MS and NMR analysis, as well as a comparison with the literature data. Antimicrobial experiments revealed that compounds 1 exhibited significant antimicrobial activities against E. aerogenes, M. tetragenu and C. albicans with the MIC values 19, 19 and 19 A mu M, respectively, and compound 2 showed a broader spectrum antimicrobial activity against M. smegmati, B. subtilis, M. phlei and E.coli with MIC values 19, 19, 10 and 10 A mu M, respectively, and compound 3 displayed powerful antimicrobial activities toward B. subtilis, E. aerogenes and M. tetragenus with MIC values 13, 13 and 6 A mu M.