Morphology Regulatory Metabolites from Arthrobotrys oligospora

Novel autoregulatory metabolites, arthrosporols A–C (1–3), involved in regulating the morphological switch in fungi, were purified and characterized from the carnivorous fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora. These compounds possess a novel hybrid carbon skeleton consisting of an epoxy-cyclohexenol combined with a rare monocyclic sesquiterpenol substructure. This is the first report of a monocyclic sesquiterpenol of this type of fungal origin. Compounds 1–3 displayed significant inhibitory activities toward the formation of conidiophores, while compounds 1 and 3 showed the opposite effects on the formation of a two-dimensional network with increasing rates of 40–90% and inhibiting rates of 30–90%, respectively.