Identification of Secondary Metabolites in Boletopsis grisea

PAC Gym

Boletopsis grisea, a highly endangered species included on the Red List of Threatened Species in several European countries, was recently reported in Jena, Thüringen, Germany for the first time. The discovery of this rare species motivated an investigation into the fungus’ ecological presence in Germany and analysis of secondary metabolites within the fungus. High-pressure liquid chromatography analyses coupled with high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRESIMS) revealed distinctions between metabolite composition within different tissue samples of the fungus, notably samples from the hat, lamella, and stem. Similar techniques combined with structural analysis using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) led to the identification of seven previously described terphenyls as main constituents of B. grisea. These identified terphenyls suggest a biosynthetic pathway in which phenolic oxidations must be involved, serving as antioxidants that could be used by B. grisea as a defense mechanism against pathogens. Research Location: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany