Penicillium verruculosum

Verruculotoxin (23) is produced by the fungus Penicillium verruculosum Peyronel. Praziquantel (24) is widely applied for the treatment of schistosomes- and cestode-caused infections in both veterinary and human therapies. Other compounds of these ring systems have aroused much interest owing to their valuable pharmacological properties. 

Penicillium verruculosum, and Penicillium wortmanni The chemical constituents of the acidic polymer from P. aculeatum var. apicula-tum are similar to those of luteic acid, but it differs in that it does not form an insoluble copper complex and has a higher viscosity. The molecular weight of the derived, neutral polymer is, by sedimentation, 1.6 X 10 (10,000 units), corresponding to 2.0 X 10 for the parent acid. ... 

Fayos, j., D. Lokensgard, J. Clardy, R. J. Cole, and J. W. Kirksey Structure of Verruculogen, a Tremor Producing Peroxide from Penicillium verruculosum. J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 96, 6785 (1974). 

In 1972, a new tremorgenic mycotoxin was obtained in the United States from a strain of Penicillium verruculosum isolated from peanuts. The toxin was named verruculogen, and a close resemblance to fumitremorgin was evident. Oral administration of this toxin to mice caused tremor and convulsions and the toxin s LD50 was 126.7 mg/kg in mice. Intraperitoneal... 

The proliferation in the number of new and diverse fungal metabolites in recent years complicates a comprehensive survey of their biogenetic origin. The biosynthesis of many metabolites appears to be trivial, because a cursory chemical inspection of the structure allows the formulation of a plausible biosynthetic pathway. For many new metabolites, no toxicological data are available and only the structural elucidation together with a biosynthetic postulate is reported. Thus the biosynthetic origin of viridicatumtoxin (1), a toxic metabolite from Penicillium viridicatum (Kabuto et al., 1976), has not been studied, but is most probably closely modeled on that of the tetracyclines (McCormick, 1967). Similarly, verruculotoxin (2), isolated from cultures of Penicillium verruculosum, is most probably derived from two L-amino acids, phenylalanine and pipecolic acid (Macmillan et aL, 1976). 

BG activity was more than one order of magnitude higher for the four Penicillium species than BG activity resulting from cultivating T. reesei Rut C30. EG activity was one order of magnitude higher for T. reesei Rut C30 and P. brasilianum IBT 20888 than for the other three Penicillium species, which may provide an explanation for the lower FPA obtained from P. verruculosum IBT 18366, P. pinophilum IBT 10872, and P. minioluteum IBT 21486. 

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