From monomers to pentamers, diverse antimicrobial benzofuran polyketides from marine-derived Striaticonidium cinctum†

Chemical investigation of the mangrove sediment-derived fungus Striaticonidium cinctum SCSIO 41432 resulted in the isolation of 27 new benzofuran polyketides, including diverse monomeric (), dimeric ( and ), trimeric (), tetrameric ( and ) and pentameric () derivatives. Their structures including absolute configurations were confirmed by extensive analysis of the spectroscopic data, Mosher's method, Mo₂(OAc)₄-induced circular dichroism, ECD calculations and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Structurally, di-stribenfurans A and B ( and ) were deduced to be rare nonsymmetric C–C linked benzofuran dimers, while trimeric to pentameric benzofurans () were unprecedented polymers with sulfinyl and ether bridges. The antimicrobial assay against twelve plant pathogenic fungi and four bacterial strains revealed that most of the monomers showed better antibiotic activities than monomeric glycosides and polymers. The sulfinyl moiety in monomers leads to stronger antibacterial effects instead of antifungal activity. Remarkably, stribenfuran U () displayed the strongest antifungal activity against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides with a MIC value of 0.78 μg mL⁻¹. Further microscopy analysis showed that could destroy the cell membrane structure of the hyphae of C. gloeosporioides and cause the surface to exhibit obvious pits and folds. This study expanded the structural variety of natural benzofuran derivatives and laid a robust foundation for the development of benzofurans as antifungal lead drugs.