Some biological properties of traversianal, a strongly molluscicidal diterpenoid aldehyde from Cercospora traversiana.

The diterpenoid aldehyde traversianal, a metabolite of the fenugreek pathogen Cercospora traversiana, has been shown to be highly toxic to brine shrimp and snails, and to lyse human red blood cells at concentrations as low as 5 x 10(-7) M. The compound also induced betacyanin leakage from beetroot slices but was essentially inactive in other standard tests for phytotoxicity despite its structural similarities to known phytotoxins. It was inactive in the chick bioassay.