Metabolites from endophytes of the medicinal plant Erythrina crista-galli

Erythrina crista-galli (Fabaceae) is used in Argentinean ethnopharmacology as anti-inflammatory medication, narcotic, desinfectant, and for the treatment of wounds. The common name of the tree is "ceibo" or coral tree. The dominating endophytes in E. crista-galli all belong to the genus Phomopsis as identified by microscopic features and the analysis of their ITS sequences. To investigate a possible contribution of Phomopsis spp. to the metabolites found in the plant, twelve different isolates were cultivated in different media. Besides several new metabolites a number of known compounds were detected: mellein, nectriapyrone, 4-hydroxymellein, scytalone, tyrosol, clavatol, mevinic acid, and mevalonolactone.