Pipecolisporin, a Novel Cyclic Peptide with Antimalarial and Antitrypanosome Activities from a Wheat Endophytic Nigrospora oryzae

Abstract

A novel cyclic antimalarial and antitrypanosome hexapeptide, pipecolisporin (<b>1</b>), was isolated from cultures of <i>Nigrospora oryzae</i> CF-298113, a fungal endophyte isolated from roots of <i>Triticum</i> sp. collected in a traditional agricultural land of Montefrío, Granada, Spain. The structure of this compound, including its absolute configuration, was elucidated by HRMS, 1-D and 2-D NMR spectroscopy, and Marfey's analysis. This metabolite displayed interesting activity against <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> and <i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i>, with IC₅₀ values in the micromolar range, and no significant cytotoxicity against the human cancer cell lines A549, A2058, MCF7, MIA PaCa-2, and HepG2.