Katsushige Ikai

Structures of Oligosaccharides Derived from Cladosiphon okamuranus Fucoidan by Digestion with Marine Bacterial Enzymes

A fucoidan-utilizing marine bacterium, Fucophilus fucoidanolyticus, was cultivated in medium containing fucoidan from Cladosiphon okamuranus. The C. okamuranus fucoidan was digested into oligosaccharides with the intracellular enzymes of F. fucoidanolyticus, and their structures were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance analyses. Some of their structures are represented by one general structural formula, (-3L-Fucpα1-3L-Fucp(4-O-sulfate)α1-3L-Fucp(4-O-sulfate)α1-3(D-GlcpUAα1-2)L-Fucpα1)m-3L-Fucpα1-3L-Fucp(4-O-sulfate)α1-3L-Fucp(4-O-sulfate) α1-3L-Fucp (m = 0, 1, 2, or 3). We concluded that all oligosaccharides obtained were derived from a sulfated-fucose-containing polysaccharide of C. okamuranus, which has a repeating unit of (-3L-Fucpα1-3L-Fucp(4-O-sulfate)α1-3L-Fucp(4-O-sulfate)α1-3(D-GlcpUAα1-2)L-Fucpα1-).

Marine bacterial sulfated fucoglucuronomannan (SFGM) lyase digests brown algal SFGM into trisaccharides

Three kinds of trisaccharides were prepared by digesting fucoidan from the brown alga Kjellmaniella crassifolia, with the extracellular enzymes of the marine bacterium Fucobacter marina. Their structures were determined as Δ4,5GlcpUA1-2(L-Fucp(3-O-sulfate)α1-3)D-Manp, Δ4,5GlcpUA1-2(L-Fucp(3-O-sulfate)α1-3)D-Manp(6-O-sulfate), and Δ4,5GlcpUA1-2(L-Fucp(2,4-O-disulfate)α1-3)D-Manp(6-O-sulfate), which indicated the existence of a novel polysaccharide in the fucoidan and a novel glycosidase in the extracellular enzymes. In order to determine the complete structure of the polysaccharide and the reaction mechanism of the glycosidase, the fucoidan was partially hydrolyzed to obtain glucuronomannan, which is the putative backbone of the polysaccharide, and its sugar sequence was determined as (-4-D-GlcpUAβ1-2D-Manpα1-)n, which disclosed that the main structure of the polysaccharide is (-4-D-GlcpUAβ1-2(L-Fucp(3-O-sulfate)α1-3)D-Manpα1-)n. Consequently, the glycosidase was deduced to be an endo-α-D-mannosidase that eliminatively cleaves the α-D-mannosyl linkage between D-Manp and D-GlcpUA residues in the polysaccharide and produces the above trisaccharides. The novel polysaccharide and glycosidase were tentatively named as sulfated fucoglucuronomannan (SFGM) and SFGM lyase, respectively.

Total synthesis of an antifungal cyclic depsipeptide aureobasidin A

Abstract The first total synthesis of antifungal cyclic depsipeptide aureobasidin A is described. The synthesis was achieved mainly using bromotris(pyrrolidino)phosphonium hexafluorophosphate (PyBroP) as a coupling reagent. Peptide cyclization was carried out between L- allo -isoleucine (L- a lle 1 ) and L- Pro 9 residues in the linear nonapeptide at the final step of the synthesis. Synthesized aureobasidin A was completely identical with the natural antibiotic with respect to antifungal activity and physicochemical properties. Unusual reactions due to N -methylamino acid, an oxazoline-mediated reaction and an N , O -acyl migration, are also described.

Conformational feature of aureobasidin E, a new type of potent antifungal antibiotic

The crystal structure of aureobasidin E, a new type of potent antifungal antibiotic, revealed the molecular conformation stably held by three intramolecular NH ⋯ OC hydrogen bonds, showing a possible feature responsible for its biological activity.