Insecticidal, Anti-juvenile Hormone, and Fungicidal Activities of Organic Extracts from Different Penicillium Species and Their Isolated Active Components

Organic extracts from mycelium and culture broth of 21 Penicillium isolates have been tested for insecticidal, insect anti-juvenile hormone (anti-JH), and antifungal activities. Culture broth extracts were the most active, mainly against insects; nearly 25% of them have shown high entomotoxicity (100% mortality at 100 μg/cm2). A strong in vivo anti-JH activity against Oncopeltus fasciatus Dallas was detected in the culture broth extracts from P. brevicompactum P79 and P88 isolates. The two new natural products isolated from P79, N-(2-methyl-3-oxodec-8-enoyl)-2-pyrroline (1) and 2-hept-5-enyl-3-methyl-4-oxo-6,7,8,8a-tetrahydro-4H-pyrrolo[2,1-b]-1,3-oxazine (2), possessed anti-JH and insecticidal activity, respectively, against O. fasciatus. Synthesized natural compound 1 has shown an ED50 of 0.7 μg/nymph when assayed on newly molted fourth-instar nymphs of O. fasciatus. Promising biological activities have also been detected in the synthetic precursors. Keywords: Penicillium; insecticide; fungicide; anti-JH activity; natural products; synthetic precursors