The toxicity of cochliodinol, an antibiotic metabolite of Chaetomium spp.

Cochliodinol is a phenol of unknown structure and a metabolite of Chaetomium cochliodes and C. globosum. It inhibited the growth of some species of several genera of microfungi at concentrations of 1–10 μg/ml. The germination of spores of Botrytis allii and Fusarium moniliforme was also inhibited, at similar concentrations. Cochliodinol forms stable, insoluble salts with strong bases but the triethanolamine salt is appreciably soluble in water. Solutions of this salt inhibit the growth of many species of bacteria. The growth of several strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the local general hospital was inhibited at 30 μg/ml. Cytopathological effects were not observed in cultures of HeLa cells at 5 μg/ml and preliminary toxicity tests in young turkeys and rats did not reveal symptoms of acute toxicity.