Comparison of balanol from Verticillium balanoides and ophiocordin from Cordyceps ophioglossoides.

Recently, we reported the isolation of the potent protein kinase C inhibitor balanol (1) from the fungus Verticillium balanoides. In an earlier study, König et al. reported the isolation of ophiocordin (3), a structural isomer of 1, from the fungus Cordyceps ophioglossoides. The present study was designed to clarify whether or not balanol and ophiocordin are different compounds. The results indicated that the two fungi produced the same compound, the structure being that assigned to balanol. In addition, a thirty-fold increase in the production of balanol from V. balanoides was observed when the culture medium was changed from cornmeal/tomato paste to soy meal/glycerol.