T. Nakamura et al., IDENTIFICATION OF 2 METABOLITES INDUCED BY A BUTYROLACTONE AUTOREGULATOR IM-2 IN STREPTOMYCES SP FRI-5, FEMS microbiology letters, 124(3), 1994, pp. 307-313
IM-2, one of the butyrolactone autoregulators of Streptomyces, trigger
s blue pigment production in Streptomyces sp. FRI-5 at a concentration
of 0.6 ng/ml. Two IM-2-induced metabolites were identified by compari
son of the HPLC profiles of extracellular metabolites produced in the
absence and presence of IM-2. The two compounds were purified to homog
eneity from the culture broth, and assigned as tryptophol and guanosin
e, respectively. With respect to the IM-2-induced production of guanos
ine, the intracellular and extracellular nucleotide contents were inve
stigated in the absence and presence of IM-2. No difference in nucleot
ide content, including that of ppGpp, was observed, indicating that pp
Gpp does not participate in the induction pathway of IM-2. It was ther
efore concluded that IM-2 is an independent regulator of Streptomyces
metabolism, which not only induces blue pigment but also affects metab
olism of tryptophan and guanosine.