A fungal strain of Aspergillus niger was recovered from sediments collected in the Northeast coast of Brazil (Pecém's offshore port terminal). Cultivation in different growth media yielded a new ester furan derivative, 1, along with malformin A1, malformin C, cyclo (trans-4-hydroxy-L-Pro-L-Leu), cyclo (trans-4-hydroxy-L-Pro-L-Phe), cyclo (L-Pro-L-Leu), cyclo (L-Pro-L-Phe), pseurotin D, pseurotin A, chlovalicin, cyclo (L-Pro-L-Tyr) and cyclo (L-Pro-L-Val). Compound 1 was cytotoxic against HCT-116 cell line, showing IC = 2.9 μg/mL (CI 95% from 1.8 to 4.7 μg/mL).

Recebido em 29/6/11; aceito em 14/1/12; publicado na web em 15/5/12In the search for new larvicides from plants, we have investigated the potential activity of the rotenoids deguelin (1), 12a-hydroxy-α-toxicarol (2) and tephrosin (3), isolated from the bioactive ethanol extract of roots of Tephrosia toxicaria Pers., against Aedes aegypti, the main vector of dengue. The absolute configuration of these compounds was determined by circular dichroism (CD) spectra. The LC 50 values of the compounds evaluated justify the potential of T. toxicaria as a new natural larvicide.

This paper provides information about a multilingual (Portuguese, English, Spanish, and French) hybrid board game composed of a physical board and an application for the Android and iOS platforms. The students’ opinions were very positive regarding the design, content, playability, usability, and usefulness. Facing the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, 44 undergraduate students used the game to review concepts related to intermolecular forces in a fun way that promotes social cohesion. Assessment of learning revealed the game promotes learning as well as a regular problem-solving class and can be used as a complementary educational tool.

Os extratos orgânicos das folhas e raízes de Psychotria stachyoides forneceram o novo alcaloide indólico monoterpênico glicosilado N-desmetil-correantosida, além de bizantionosida B, a-amirina, éter metílico da alizarina, rubiadina, escopoletina, ácido barbinévico e uma mistura de b-sitosterol e estigmasterol glicosilados. A caracterização estrutural dos compostos isolados foi estabelecida com base na espectroscopia no infravermelho (IR), espectrometria de massa (MS) e particularmente ressonância magnética nuclear (RMN) 1D e 2D.The organic extracts of leaves and roots of Psychotria stachyoides provided the new glucoside monoterpenoid indole alkaloid N-demethylcorreantoside, besides bizantionoside B, a-amyrin, alizarine methyl-ether, rubiadine, scopoletin, barbinevic acid and a mixture of b-sitosterol and stigmasterol glucosides. The structural characterization of the isolates was established based on infrared spectroscopy (IR), mass spectrometry (MS) and, particularly, 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Keywords: monoterpene indole alkaloid, coumarins, naphthoquinones, triterpenes, Psychotria stachyoides IntroductionIndole alkaloids represent the biggest single class of all alkaloids from plants. The major groups under investigation are the ones with monoterpene (C 10 ) or nor-monoterpene (C 9 ) moieties joined to the tryptamine, which are distributed on a wide range of different structures in the Apocynaceae, Loganiaceae, Nyssaceae and Rubiaceae families. The genus Psychotria (Rubiaceae) comprises more than 1000 species distributed in tropical regions worldwide. This genus is taxonomically complex, and is particularly characterized as a prolific source of bioactive polyindole and monoterpenoid indole alkaloids. Previous phytochemical studies of species of Psychotria from the Southern Brazil have revealed the remarkable presence of glycosylated indole monoterpenoid alkaloids. 1As part of the investigative efforts to find alkaloids from Rubiaceae species of the Northeastern Brazil flora, Psychotria stachyoides (subgroup Heteropsychotria), a shrub growing predominantly in tropical and sub-tropical forests from Brazil (where it is popularly named as "erva-d'anta"), 2 has been investigated. This work reports the isolation and structural characterization of the new glucosilated monoterpene indole alkaloid named as N-demethylcorreantoside (1) from the leaves of P. stachyoides, in addition to the known bizantionoside B and a-amyrin. ) functionalities. From the 1 H NMR spectrum, a tetrahydro-b-carboline system was defined by Pimenta et al. 2217 Vol. 22, No. 11, 2011 the typical aromatic signals at d 7.22 (td, J 7.4 and 1.0 Hz, H-10), 7.26 (td, J 7.4 and 1.3 Hz, H-11), 7.45 (dd, J 7.4 and 1.3 Hz, H-9), 8.15 (dd, J 7.4 and 1.0 Hz, H-12), besides the two methylenes at d 3.10 (t, J 5.5 Hz, 2H-5) and 2.70 (t, J 5.4 Hz, 2H-6). 10 The 1 H NMR spectrum also showed signals relative to an iridoid unit related to a secologanin moiety due to the signals of the olefinic hydrogen at d 5.85 (ddd, J 17.6, 10.0 and 7.6 Hz, H...

Aspergillus niger is a phytopathogenic fungus responsible for the plant disease called "black mold", and it is considered the most versatile microorganism for producing acids, proteins, and enzymes of industrial value, besides a variety of compounds of pharmacological interest. This review presents a century of contribution of A. niger in the natural products chemistry under two different perspectives: (i) an overview of the structural diversity of secondary metabolites produced by A. niger from different habitats and their biological activities; (ii) a general discussion of the enzymatic potential of A. niger on the selective biotransformation of terpenes, highlighting the most uncommon microbial transformations.