Isolation and Properties of Antitumor Antibiotic YS-1649 from Penicillium sp. strain 1649

An antitumor antibiotic named YS-1649 was isolated from the culture filtrate of a newly isolated fungus identified as Penicillium sp.. The fermentation yield reached about 40 mg per liter of the broth. YS-1649, a $\gamma$-Iactone - structured antibiotic, has the molecular fomular of $C_7H_6O_4$, Its structure was determined to be patulin by spectral analysis. It is active against some bacteria and showed cytotoxic effect on the proliferation of human breast cancer cell line, MCF-7, at concentrations of more than 0.048 $mu g/ml$. This compound also showed strong cytotoxic effect on the proliferation of human cancer cell lines, A549 and ACHN.