PRODUCTION OF BIKAVERIN BY FUSARIUM OXYSPORUM AND ITS IDENTITY WITH LYCOPERSIN

Abstract : The presence of a wine-red antiprotozoal metabolite in cultures of G. fujikuroi (F. moniliforme) and another Fusarium species was first described in 1970 by Balan and coworkers. Subsequently, Kjaer, Bu'lock and their collaborators, after extensive chemical investigations, have identified this substance with bikaverin, a fungal vacuolation factor discovered by Park and coworkers in aging cultures of F. oxysporum and F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici. Chemical and X-ray crystallographic evidence established the structure of bikaverin as I. Its resemblance to, and spite some discrepancies in the reported properties, its probable identity with lycopersin was noted. The authors have compared samples of lycopersin and bikaverin directly and confirmed their identity.