Microbial Transformation of the Labdanes, cis-Abienol and Sclareol

Abstract

The microbial transformation of cis-abienol and sclareol by a recently isolated soil bacterium, JTS-131, was studied. In the presence of metabolic inhibitors, three new compounds were isolated from the culture broth as degradation products of cis-abienol. They were determined to be (12Z)- labda-12, 14-dien-18-ol, (12Z)-labda-12, 14-dien-18-oic acid and its methylester. Two new compounds were also formed from sclareol in the presence of metabolic inhibitors. They were determined to be 13?A-hydroxylabd-14-en-18-oic acid and 13?A-hydroxylabd-14-en-18-oic acid methylester. As a result of sequence determination experiments, the biotransformation pathways of cis-abienol and sclareol by the bacterium were proposed.