PRODUCTION OF KANOSAMINE BY BACILLUS-CEREUS UW85

Bacillus cereus UW85 produces two antibiotics that contribute to its a bility to suppress certain plant diseases (L. Silo-Suh, B. Lethbridge, S. J. Raffel, H. He, J. Clardy, and J. Handelsman, Appl. Environ. Mic robiol. 60: 2023-2030, 1994). To enhance the understanding of disease suppression by UW85, we determined the chemical structure, regulation, and the target range of one of the antibiotics. The antibiotic was id entified as 3-amino-3-deoxy-D-glucose, also known as kanosamine. Kanos amine was highly inhibitory to growth of plant-pathogenic oomycetes an d moderately inhibitory to certain fungi and inhibited few bacterial s pecies tested. Maximum accumulation of kanosamine in B. cereus UW85 cu lture supernatants coincided with sporulation. Kanosamine accumulation was enhanced by the addition of ferric iron and suppressed by additio n of phosphate to rich medium. Kanosamine accumulation was also enhanc ed more than 300% by the addition of alfalfa seedling exudate to minim al medium.