A new lateral root growth inhibitor from the sponge-derived fungus Aspergillus sp. LS45

Abstract Two new γ -lactones, aspergilactones A ( 1 ) and B ( 2 ), were discovered along with two known compounds, annularin A ( 3 ) and pericoterpenoid A ( 4 ), from a culture of the sponge-associated fungus Aspergillus sp. LS45. The planar structures of 1 – 4 were characterized using comprehensive spectroscopic methods and comparison with literature data. The absolute configurations of 1 and 2 were determined by comparison of electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectroscopic and optical rotation data with those of known analogues as well as calculated ECD analysis. Compounds 1 – 4 were tested in a variety of bioassays, and both 1 and 4 exhibited significant inhibition against the lateral root growth of Arabidopsis thaliana Columbia-0 at a concentration of 100 μM. In addition, the in vitro cytotoxic activities of 1 – 4 against six human cancer cell lines CCRF-CEM, K562, BGC823, AGS, HCT-116 and MDA-MB-231 were evaluated. Compound 4 showed moderate inhibitory effects on CCRF-CEM and K562 cancer cell lines with IC 50 values of 13.8 ± 1.6 and 12.9 ± 2.5 μM, respectively. However, compounds 1 – 4 did not show any notable AChE inhibitory activity in vitro .