Phenylquinolinones with antitumor activity from the Indian Ocean-derived fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus versicolor</Emphasis> Y31-2

Two phenylquinolinones, including one new compound (1) and a previously isolated compound (2), were isolated from the ethyl acetate extracts of the fungus Aspergillus versicolor Y31-2, which was obtained from seawater samples collected from the Indian Ocean. The structures of these compounds were established by spectroscopic analyses. 4-(3-Hydroxyphenyl)-3-methoxyquinolin-2(1H)-one (1) exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against MCF-7 (human breast carcinoma cell line) and SMMC-7721 (human liver cancer cell line) cells with IC₅₀ values of 16.6 and 18.2 μmol/L, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first reported account of the isolation of compounds 1 and 2 as the secondary metabolites of the seawater derived fungus Aspergillus versicolor from the Indian Ocean.