Eight compounds were isolated from the fermentation cultures of r ice sheath blight pathogen Rhizoctonia solani Kühn. They were identified as er gosterol(1), 6β-hydroxysitostenone(2), sitostenone(3), m-h ydroxyphenylacetic acid(4), methyl m-h ydroxyphenylacetate(5), m-hydroxymethylphenyl pentanoate(6),(Z)-3-methylpent-2-en-1,5-dioic acid(7) and 3-methoxyfuran-2-carboxylic acid(8) by means of physicochemical and spectroscopic analysis. A mong them, 2, 3, 5–8 were isolated from R. solani for the first time. All the compounds were evaluated for their biological activities. 4–6 and 8 showed their inhibitory activities on the radical and germ elongation of rice seeds. 1, 4 and 7 showed moderate antibacterial activity to some bacteria. 4, 7 and 8 exhibited weak inhibitory activities on spore germination of Magnaporthe oryzae. 8 showed moderate antioxidant activity with the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryhydrazyl(DPPH) and β-carotene-linoleic acid assays. This is the first time to reveal compounds 5, 6 and 8 from rice sheath blight pathogen R. solani to have in vitro phytotoxic activity.
