Purification and Structural Analysis of a Selective Toxin Fraction Produced by the Plant Pathogen Setosphaeria turcica

Thirteen fractions from the pathogenic plant fungus Setosphaeria turcica race 1 were separated and collected using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Their toxic activities were assayed through leaf puncturing on corn differentials (OH43, OH43Htl, OH43Ht2, and OH43HtN), and the results revealed that eight fractions were toxic and fraction 6 was specifically toxic to OH43Htl, which could be taken as a gene-selective toxin fraction. Fraction 6 was finely purified via HPLC and condensed by freeze desiccation. Its chemical structure was analyzed with EI-MS, IR, HMBC, 1H-NMR, and two-dimensional NMR. The results suggested that fraction 6 contained an unsaturated double bond, carbonyl and methylene groups with molecular weight of 142.