Triterpeneglycosides as Inhibitors of Fungal Growth and Metabolism

Aescin in phosphate buffer reduced, to some extent, the production of ¹⁴CO₂ from uniformly labelled glucose in mycelia of Ophiobolus graminis and Neurospora crassa, whereas aescin in succinate buffer had no effect. The enzymatic hydrolysis of sucrose was, however, severely affected, no production of ¹⁴CO₂ from labelled sucrose being found after treatment of mycelia of O. graminis with 100 mg/l of aescin and N. crassa with 300 mg/l for 90 and 300 min, respectively. In Aspergillus niger the production of ¹⁴CO₂ from glucose or sucrose was not affected. The ATPase in whole cells and isolated plasma membranes was not inhibited by the aescin treatment, on the contrary, the ATPase in whole cells of N. crassa was somewhat stimulated.