Hydrocortisone was converted in the culture of an isolated strain of the cyanobacterium Nostoc muscorum PTCC 1636 into some androstane and pregnane derivatives. The microorganism was isolated during a screening program from soil samples collected from paddy fields of north of Iran. The bioproducts obtained were purified using chromatographic methods and identified as 11β-hydroxytestosterone, 11β-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3,17-dione and 11β,17α,20β,21-tetrahydroxypregn-4-en-3-one on the basis of their spectroscopic features.

Hydrocortisone (III) was converted in the culture of an isolated strain of the cyanobacterium Nostoc muscorum PTCC 1636 into some androstane and pregnane derivatives. The bioproducts obtained were purified using chromatographic methods and identified as 11β-hydroxytestosterone (I), 11β-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3,17-dione (II) and 11β,17α,20β,21-tetrahydroxypregn-4-en-3-one (IV) on the basis of their spectroscopic features.