Sphingofungins A, B, C, and D; a new family of antifungal agents. I. Fermentation, isolation, and biological activity.

In screening for antifungal inhibitors from fungi, four related antifungal agents have been isolated from the cultivation of Aspergillus fumigatus ATCC 20857. These agents were initially produced by the microorganism growing on a solid millet-based medium. A liquid medium containing both glucose and glycerol has also been developed in which these antibiotics are produced in two phases. These novel compounds, sphingofungins A, B, C, and D, show a limited spectrum of antifungal activity but were especially effective against Cryptococcus species.