Akanthomycin, a New Antibiotic Pyridone from the Entomopathogenic Fungus <i>Akanthomyces </i><i>g</i><i>racilis</i>

Organic extracts of the entomopathogenic fungus <i>Akanthomyces </i><i>gracilis</i> ARS 2910 contained antibiotics active against <i>Staphylococcus </i><i>aureus</i>. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the CH₂Cl₂ extract yielded the antibacterial compound akanthomycin as a mixture of atropisomers along with the closely related compounds 8-methylpyridoxatin and cordypyridone C. Akanthomycin was characterized using X-ray crystallography and NMR.