Cladobotric acids A-F: new cytotoxic polyketides from a New Zealand Cladobotryum sp.

[reaction: see text] Cladobotric acids A-F (1-6), fungal-derived polyketides, were isolated from the fermentation broth of a New Zealand Cladobotryum species. Structures were determined by extensive spectral analysis and X-ray crystallography, and the polyketide origin of 1-6 was concluded from feeding experiments with (13)C-labeled precursors. The observed folding pattern for the polyketide chain is unusual for fungi. Cladobotric acids A-F (1-6) exhibited notable cytotoxicity against the murine P388 leukemia cell line and were also active against Bacillus subtilis and Candida albicans.