Seven new and two known lipopeptides as well as five known polyketides: the activated production of silent metabolites in a marine-derived fungus by chemical mutagenesis strategy using diethyl sulphate.

AD-2-1 is an antitumor fungal mutant obtained by diethyl sulfate mutagenesis of a marine-derived Penicillium purpurogenum G59. The G59 strain originally did not produce any metabolites with antitumor activities in MTT assays using K562 cells. Tracing newly produced metabolites under guidance of MTT assay and TLC analysis by direct comparison with control G59 extract, seven new (1-7) and two known (8-9) lipopeptides were isolated together with five known polyketides 10-14 from the extract of mutant AD-2-1. Structures of the seven new compounds including their absolute configurations were determined by spectroscopic and chemical evidences and named as penicimutalides A-G (1-7). Seven known compounds were identified as fellutamide B (8), fellutamide C (9), 1'-O-methylaverantin (10), averantin (11), averufin (12), nidurufin (13), and sterigmatocystin (14). In the MTT assay, 1-14 inhibited several human cancer cell lines to varying extents. All the bioassays and HPLC-photodiode array detector (PDAD)-UV and HPLC-electron spray ionization (ESI)-MS analyses demonstrated that the production of 1-14 in the mutant AD-2-1 was caused by the activated production of silent metabolites in the original G59 fungal strain. Present results provided additional examples for effectiveness of the chemical mutagenesis strategy using diethyl sulphate mutagenesis to discover new compounds by activating silent metabolites in fungal isolates.