Production of neosolaniol by Fusarium tumidum

Extracts from autoclaved maize culture of Fusarium tumidum strain R-5823 were toxic towards Artemia salina. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the organic extract led to the isolation of the toxic compound that was identified as the trichothecene toxin neosolaniol (NEOS) by 1H, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and low-resolution electronic impact mass spectrometry. The amount of NEOS produced by the strain R-5823 was 300 mg/kg maize culture. NEOS was also detected by HPLC in cultures of four out of seven additional strains of F. tumidum and Gibberella tumida with different origin, in amounts ranging from 1 to 311 mg/kg. This is the first report on the production of a trichothecene toxin by F. tumidum.