Identification of 1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene melanin in Monosporascus cannonballus and the analysis of hexaketide and pentaketide compounds produced by wild-type and pigmented isolates of the fungus.

Monosporascus cannonballus causes root rot and vine decline in muskmelons and watermelons. Wild types of this fungus often undergo degenerative changes that have been associated with yellow to brown pigmentation, hypovirulence, dsRNA infection, and decreased production of perithecia. In this study, degenerate isolates that produced yellow to brown pigments and no perithecia were obtained from wild-type cultures that had been stored for extended periods of time. Cultures of the degenerate isolates were found to accumulate five related hexaketides when grown on potato-dextrose agar (PDA). In contrast, these hexaketides were present only in minute amounts in wild-type cultures unless grown on NaCl-amended PDA. 1,8-Dihydroxynaphthalene melanin was established to be present in wild-type M. cannonballus and absent in the degenerate isolates. Various melanin-related metabolites, however, were produced by the variants. Tricyclazole in PDA cultures blocked melanin biosynthesis by the wild types but had little effect on hexaketide production by the degenerate isolates.