{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:59:07Z","timestamp":1787029147235,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]],"date-time":"2025-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758672000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Biodiversity Future Center\u2014NBFC","award":["CN00000033"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CN00000033"]}]},{"name":"National Biodiversity Future Center\u2014NBFC","award":["CUP B83C22002930006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CUP B83C22002930006"]}]},{"name":"Concession Decree No. 1034 of 17 June 2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research","award":["CN00000033"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CN00000033"]}]},{"name":"Concession Decree No. 1034 of 17 June 2022 adopted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research","award":["CUP B83C22002930006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CUP B83C22002930006"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Endophytic fungi (EF) are microorganisms that colonize the internal tissues of host plants, providing a range of benefits to them. In this symbiosis, they act as a reservoir of bioactive metabolites that are important for enhancing the host\u2019s defense mechanisms as a resistance against pathogens. These molecules usually possess antimicrobial properties that can be exploited for application in agriculture and medicine. In this context, the current work was designed to evaluate the phytotoxic and antimicrobial properties of the endophytic fungus Curvularia inaequalis, isolated for the first time from the Iranian medicinal plant Echium khuzistanicum. Culture filtrates, their organic extracts, and isolated metabolites were tested against a series of plants to assess their phytotoxicity, as well as against a wide range of plant and human pathogens to evaluate their antimicrobial activity. The main compounds characterizing the organic extract of C. inaequalis have been identified as (R)-phomalactone, catenioblin A, and (-) asperpentyn (1\u20133) by using spectroscopic techniques, NMR mainly, and HR-ESI-MS. In the bioactivity evaluation carried out in this study, (R)-phomalactone (1) stood out as the most promising compound, exhibiting significant non-host phytotoxic activity on tomato leaves; potent antibacterial activity against a wide range of human pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains; and marked antifungal activity against several economically important phytopathogens. (\u2013)-Asperpentyn (3) also showed robust and selective antifungal activity against phytopathogens, while catenioblin A (2) exhibited only a slight phytotoxic effect and limited overall bioactivity in this study. These findings reveal that the isolated endophytic fungi hold considerable promise as an untapped source of bioactive metabolites with antibacterial, antifungal, and phytotoxic activities.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules30193870","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]],"date-time":"2025-09-24T13:16:11Z","timestamp":1758719771000},"page":"3870","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Extraction and Identification of the Bioactive Metabolites Produced by Curvularia inaequalis, an Endophytic Fungus Collected in Iran from Echium khuzistanicum Mozaff"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"30","author":[{"given":"Maryam","family":"Besharati","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB), National Research Council (CNR), 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy"},{"name":"Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-111, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7308-1011","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Letizia","family":"Ciavatta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB), National Research Council (CNR), 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marianna","family":"Carbone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB), National Research Council (CNR), 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nadia","family":"Cacciapuoti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB), National Research Council (CNR), 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-8152-1370","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martina","family":"Aversa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnologies, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Napoli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8130-1790","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emanuela","family":"Roscetto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnologies, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Napoli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4894-5049","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefany","family":"Castaldi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Napoli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3841-6066","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giancarlo","family":"Perrone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), National Research Council (CNR), 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Angela","family":"Boari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), National Research Council (CNR), 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-7261-8590","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katia","family":"Gialluisi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA), National Research Council (CNR), 70125 Bari, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8765-137X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Rosaria","family":"Catania","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnologies, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Napoli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0347-2057","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sayed Ali","family":"Moosawi-Jorf","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran 14115-111, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9110-1656","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio","family":"Evidente","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB), National Research Council (CNR), 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1021\/np200906s","article-title":"Natural products as sources of new drugs over the 30 years from 1981 to 2010","volume":"75","author":"Newman","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. 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