Drimanes cytotoxic activity

In 1994, six novel drimane-type sesquiterpenoids, mniopetals A-F (1-6) (Fig. (1)), were isolated by Anke and Steglich from the fermentation broth of Canadian Mniopetalum sp. 87256 [1, 2]. These natural products are known to inhibit the enzymatic activity of RNA-directed DNA-polymerases (reverse transcriptases) of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-l, avian myeloblastosis virus (AMV), and moloney murine leukemia virus (MMuLV) as shown in Table 1. In addition, mniopetals exhibit moderate antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. In the following year, a structurally and biologically similar natural product kuehnero-... 

Nitro compounds are very rare in nature, but four esters of p-nitrobenzoic add and a sesquiterpenic alcohol of the drimane series have been identified in the culture of the fungus Aspergillus versicolor isolated from the surface of another bryopsid, Penicillus capitatus. These derivatives have a moderate cytotoxic activity and, once again, are dosely related to similar structures already known in terrestrial organisms (Belofsky et al, 1998). 

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