Nostodione A, a Novel Mitotic Spindle Poison* from a Blue-Green Alga Nostoc commune

Abstract

A, novel antimitotic compound named Nostodione A (Nd A) was isolated from a terrestrial blue-green alga Nostoc commune. Nostodione A disturbed the mitotic spindle formation of sea-urchin eggs and gave small spindles with low birefringence density. Nostodione, A. however, had no phytotoxicity on the germination of a dicotyledonous plant Medicago sativa. Based on the spectral analysis and chemical degradation, the structure of Nostodione A was elucidated. © 1994, Walter de Gruyter. All rights reserved.