Antifungal Activity and Biotransformation of Diisophorone by Botrytis cinerea

Diisophorone (1) was tested against two strains of the necrotrophic plant pathogen Botrytis cinerea. Fungal sensitivity varied according to the strain. B. cinera 2100 was more sensitive than B. cinerea UCA992: its mycelial growth was significantly inhibited at concentrations of 50 ppm and above. Although diisophorone (1) showed an effective control of B. cinerea, a detoxification mechanism was present. The detoxification of racemic diisophorone (1) by B. cinerea was investigated. Incubation with two strains of B. cinerea gave one and four biotransformation products (2 − 5), respectively. Their structures were established as the known 8β-hydroxydiisophorone (2), 6α-hydroxydiisophorone (3), 6β-hydroxydiisophorone (4) and 8β,14β-dihydroxydiisophorone (5) on the basis of their spectroscopic data, including two-dimensional NMR analysis [heteronuclear multiple quantum coherence (HMQC), heteronuclear multiple bond correlation (HMBC), and nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (NOESY)] and an X-ray crystallographic study. Keywords: Biotransformation; diisophorone; Botrytis cinerea; antifungal activity