Trichothecene Mycotoxins from Fusarium culmorum Cultures

Chemical analysis of the culture filtrates of Fusarium culmorum CMI 14764 has demonstrated the presence of seven trichothecene mycotoxins. Major metabolites are 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol and 7 alpha, 8 alpha-dihydroxycalonectrin, with 3,15-diacetyldeoxynivalenol, deoxynivalenol, calonectrin, isotrichodermin and 12,13-epoxytrichothec-9-ene (EPT) as minor products. The occurrence of the rarely encountered unsubstituted trichothecene EPT is significant in that this compound may function as a common intermediate in the biosynthetic pathways to all natural trichothecenes. The structures of the known trichothecenes isolated from F. culmorum suggest a route in which EPT is sequentially oxygenated to the more complex deoxynivalenol derivatives.