Chlorometabolite production by the ecologically important white rot fungus Bjerkandera adusta

Two strains of the basidiomycete, Bjerkandera adusta (DAOM 215869 and BOS55) produce in static liquid culture, phenyl, veratryl, anisyl and chloroanisyl metabolites (CAM's) (alcohols, acids and aldehydes) as well as a series of compounds not previously known to be produced by Bjerkandera species: 1-phenyl, 1-anisyl, 1-(3-chloro-4-methoxy) and 1-(3,5-dichloro-4-methoxy) propan-1,2-diols, predominantly as erythro diastereomers with 1 R, 2 S absolute configurations. 1-Anisyl-propan-1,2-diol and 1-(3,5-dichloro-4-methoxy)-propan-1,2-diol are new metabolites for which the names Bjerkanderol A and B, respectively, are proposed. Experiments with static liquid cultures supplied with 13 C 6 - and 13 C 9 -L-phenylalanine showed that all identified aromatic compounds (with the exception of phenol) can be derived from L-phenylalanine. For the aryl propane diols, the 13 C label appeared only in the phenyl ring and the benzylic carbon, suggesting a stereoselective re-synthesis from a C 7 and a C 2-unit, likely aromatic aldehyde and decarboxylated pyruvate, respectively. Other compounds newly discovered to be derived from phenylalanine by this white rot fungus include phenylacetaldehyde and phenylpyruvic, phenylacetic, phenyllactic, mandelic and phenyl glyoxylic (benzoyl formic) acids. For both strains, cultures supplied with Na 37Cl showed incorporation of 37 Cl in all identified chlorometabolites. Veratryl alcohol and the CAM alcohols, which occur in both strains and can be derived from L-phenylalanine (all 13 C -labelled), have reported important physiological functions in this white rot fungus. Possible mechanisms for their formation through the newly discovered compounds are discussed.