Feeding experiments with ent-kaurenoic acid (4), 15R-hydroxy-ent-kaurenoic acid (5), 15 -hydroxy-entkaurenoic acid (6), and mixtures of 4 plus 5 and 4 plus 6 were conducted using the SG138 mutant of Gibberella fujikuroi, to gain information about the phenotype of this unique strain. The biotransformation of 5 gave 7 ,15R-dihydroxykaurenolide (9) and 7 ,15R-dihydroxy-ent-kaurenoic acid (13). The incubation of 6 produced 7 ,15 -dihydroxy-ent-kaurenoic acid (7) and 7 ,15 -dihydroxykaurenolide (10). No 15-hydroxylated gibberellins were detected in any of these experiments. The results indicated that a hydroxy group at C-15 does not inhibit 7 -hydroxylase activity but in the SG138 strain obstructs the enzymatic ring-B contraction of ent-kaurenoids to gibberellins. Exogenous 4 stimulated both the excretion of ent-kaurene and the fungal metabolism of 5 and 6. Gibberellins (GAs) are terpenoid phytohormones which play an important role in the regulation of plant growth and development. Apart from plants some fungi also produce these terpenoids, particularly Gibberella fujikuroi (Hypocreale). GAs have many applications in agriculture and the brewing industry. 1 Therefore, their abundant production by some strains of G. fujikuroi has led to the study of their biosynthesis by this fungus in considerable detail over the last three decades. 2 Some aspects of the biogenesis of the gibberellins via ent-kaurene (1), entkaurenol (2), ent-kaurenal (3), and ent-kaurenoic acid (4) are fully described, 2 but many of the biochemical and physiological aspects of fungal gibberellin biosynthesis are still poorly understood. As part of our research into the biotechnology of G. fujikuroi we have investigated the metabolites produced by the GA-producer IMI58289 strain. 3,4 Subsequently, the kaurenoids and GAs synthesized by several gib-mutants developed from the IMI58289 wildtype strain were also analyzed. 5 The results of these analyses and preliminary feeding experiments 6 suggested to us that one of these mutants (SG138) was blocked in the oxidative transformations from ent-kaurene (1) to entkaurenoic acid (4), as well as in 3 -hydroxylation, 13 -hydroxylation, and the loss of C-20 by the GAs. These unusual features prompted us to make further feeding experiments with strain SG138 to gain more information about its unusual phenotype. We describe here the results of incubations with ent-kaurenoic acid (4), the "unnatural" substrates 15R-hydroxy-ent-kaurenoic acid (5) and 15 -hydroxy-ent-kaurenoic acid (6), and mixtures of 4 plus 5 and 4 plus 6. Throughout these experiments it was observed that ent-kaurenoic acid (4) substantially stimulated the metabolism and/or excretion of 1, 5, and 6.The results of incubations using the SG138 mutant of G. fujikuroi, both with and without ent-kaurenoic acid (4), are summarized in Table 1. All compounds included in this table were identified by means of GC-MS. Several substances could be isolated, and their structures were confirmed by NMR techniques (see the Experimental Section for more details). A num...