Abstract:
The fungus
Xylaria sp. KYJ-15 was isolated from
Illigera celebica. Based on the one strain many compounds (OSMAC) strategy, the strain was fermented on potato and rice solid media, respectively. As a result, two novel steroids, xylarsteroids A (
1 ) and B (
2 ), which are the first examples of C
28-steroid with an unusual
β- and
γ-lactone ring, respectively, along with two new dihydroisocoumarin glycosides, xylarglycosides A (
3 ) and B (
4 ), were identified. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, X-ray diffraction and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) experiments. All isolated compounds were evaluated for cytotoxicity, DPPH radical scavenging activity, acetylcholinesterase inhibitory and antimicrobial effect. Compound
1 exhibited potent AChE inhibitory activity with an IC
50 value of 2.61 ± 0.05 μmol·L
−1. The
β-lactone ring unit of
1 is critical for its AChE inhibitory activity. The finding was further confirmed through exploring the interaction of
1 with AChE by molecular docking. In addition, both compounds
1 and
2 exhibited obvious antibacterial activity against
Bacillus subtilis with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 2 μg·mL
−1. Compounds
3 and
4 exhibited antibacterial activities against
Staphylococcus aureus with MICs of 4 and 2 μg·mL
−1, respectively, which also exhibited DPPH radical scavenging activity comparable to the positive control with IC
50 values of 9.2 ± 0.03 and 13.3 ± 0.01 μmol·L
−1, respectively.