Derivatives of the antimalarial agent artemisinin, compositions comprising the derivatives, methods for preparing the derivatives, and their uses in pharmaceutical compositions intended for the treatment of parasitic infections are provided. Methods are provided for the production of artemisinin derivatives via functionalization of positions C7 and C6a, and optionally, in conjunction with modifications at positions C10 and C9, via chemoenzymatic methods. Recombinant cytochrome P450 polypeptides are also provided for use in the methods. The artemisinin derivatives can be used for the treatment of malaria and other parasitic infections, alone or in combination with other antiparasitic drugs.

A method for controlling nematode includes treating a plant or soil with a composition comprising a grammicin compound of Formula 1 or an agriculturally acceptable salt thereof. The grammicin compound may be isolated from a Xylaria grammica strain so that it is harmless to a human body, does not cause any environmental contamination, and exhibits an excellent control activity against root knot nematodes. Thus, it can be advantageously used for developing an environment-friendly natural nematicide and production of a high value-added organic agricultural product.

The subject invention concerns materials and methods for alkene reduction of compounds, such as levoglucosenone (LGO) and (,S)-Y-hydroxymethyl-a,P-butenolide (HBO), using an alkene reductase enzyme. In one embodiment, a method of the invention comprises alkene reduction of a target compound by reacting the compound with an Old Yellow Enzyme (OYE) that reduces alkene bonds. In one embodiment, the OYE is OYE 2.6 from Pichia stipites and comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1. In a specific embodiment, the enzyme is an Old Yellow Enzyme (OYE) 2.6 mutant having an amino acid substitution at position 78 in the sequence, wherein the tyrosine at position 78 is substituted with a tryptophan amino acid (Y78W) and is designated as OYE 2.6 Y78W (SEQ ID NO:2).

Provided are a Streptomyces (Streptomyces hygroscopicus) HS7522 and a method for preparing milbemycin A4 by culturing the Streptomyces. The Streptomyces (Streptomyces hygroscopicus) HS7522 of the present invention is deposited in China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center with an accession number of CGMCC No. 9671 on Sep. 16, 2014.

The present disclosure discloses a recombinant microbe producing podophyllotoxin, or its derivatives, comprising genes encoding phenyl alanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), cinnamate-4-hydroxylate (C4H), 4-coumaroyl CoA-ligase (4CL), hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA quinate hydroxycinnamoyltransferase (HCT), p-coumaroyl quinate 3-hydroxylase (C3H), caffeoyl CoA O-methyltransferase (CCoAOMT), bifunctional pinoresinol-lariciresinol reductase (DIRPLR), secoisolariciresinol dehydrogenase (SDH), cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase CYP719, O-methyltransferase (OMT), cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase CYP71, and 2-oxoglutarate/Fe(II)-dependent dioxygenase (2-ODD). Also disclosed herein is a method for producing podophyllotoxin or its derivatives. Moreover, a method of treating cancer is also disclosed.

Antifungal compounds, an antifungal compound extracted from Epicoccum purpurascens, also known as Epicoccum nigrum, methods of producing the antifungal compounds, isolates and compositions comprising the antifungal compounds, and methods of using the antifungal compounds.

The present invention provides compositions and methods for biosynthetically producing podophyllotoxin intermediates and derivatives including enzymes and their equivalents involved in the biosynthetic production of podophyllotoxin intermediates and derivatives.

A composition comprising mesoporous aggregates of magnetic nanoparticles and free-radical producing enzyme (i.e., enzyme-bound mesoporous aggregates), wherein the mesoporous aggregates of magnetic nanoparticles have mesopores in which the free-radical-producing enzyme is embedded. Methods for synthesizing the enzyme-bound mesoporous aggregates are also described. Processes that use said enzyme-bound mesoporous aggregates for depolymerizing lignin, removing aromatic contaminants from water, and polymerizing monomers polymerizable by a free-radical reaction are also described.

The present invention provides a method for high-efficiency production of pinoresinol by use of an H.sub.2O.sub.2 auto-scavenging enzymatic cascade. It uses eugenol as the substrate, which is relatively inexpensive and is industrially available. It uses an enzymatic cascade to remove H.sub.2O.sub.2 produced in the process of pinoresinol synthesis, thereby reducing its inhibitory effect on the enzyme activity. In addition, the present invention uses whole cells as a catalyst, which can continuously regenerate cofactors needed by the enzyme, thus eliminating the need for exogenous addition of expensive cofactors during the reaction. The yield of the present invention can reach 7.12 g/L and the conversion rate is 61.55%.

A composition comprising mesoporous aggregates of magnetic nanoparticles and free-radical producing enzyme (i.e., enzyme-bound mesoporous aggregates), wherein the mesoporous aggregates of magnetic nanoparticles have mesopores in which the free-radical-producing enzyme is embedded. Methods for synthesizing the enzyme-bound mesoporous aggregates are also described. Processes that use said enzyme-bound mesoporous aggregates for depolymerizing lignin, removing aromatic contaminants from water, and polymerizing monomers polymerizable by a free-radical reaction are also described.