Endophytic Diaporthe sp. ED2 Produces a Novel Anti-Candidal Ketone Derivative

This study aimed to examine the anti-candidal efficacy of a novel ketone derivative isolated from Diaporthe sp. ED2, an endophytic fungus residing in medicinal herb Orthosiphon stamieus Benth. The ethyl acetate extract of the fungal culture was separated by open column and reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The eluent at retention time 5.64 min in the HPLC system was the only compound that exhibited anti-candidal activity on Kirby-Bauer assay. The structure of the compound was also elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance and spectroscopy techniques. The purified anti-candidal compound was obtainedas a colorless solid and characterized as 3-hydroxy-5-methoxyhex-5-ene-2,4-dione. On broth microdilution assay, the compound also exhibited fungicidal activity on a clinical strain of Candida albicans at a minimal inhibitory concentration of 3.1 μg/ml. The killing kinetic analysis also revealed that the compound was fungicidal against C. albicans in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. The compound was heat-stable up to 70°C, but its anti-candidal activity was affected at pH 2.