Discovery of a new biphenyl derivative by epigenetic manipulation of marine-derived fungus Aspergillus versicolor

Cultivation of the marine-derived Aspergillus versicolor MCCC 3A00080 with the addition of a histone deacetylase inhibitor, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), significantly enhanced the diversity of secondary metabolites. From the culture treated, a new biphenyl derivative, named versiperol A (1), along with two known compounds, 2,4-dimethoxyphenol (2) and diorcinol (3) were isolated. The structures of 1–3 were established based on spectroscopic analysis and comparison with literature data. Among the isolates, versiperol A (1) exhibited modest inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus growth with MIC value of 8 μg/mL.