BACILLAENE, A NOVEL INHIBITOR OF PROKARYOTIC PROTEIN-SYNTHESIS PRODUCED BY BACILLUS-SUBTILIS - PRODUCTION, TAXONOMY, ISOLATION, PHYSICOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND BIOLOGICAL-ACTIVITY

Bacillaene, a novel polyene antibiotic, was discovered and isolated fr om fermentation broths of a strain of Bacillus subtilis. The novel ant ibiotic has a nominal molecular weight of 580 and an empirical formula of C35H48O7. Bacillaene is active against a broad spectrum of bacteri a in agar-plate diffusion assays. Studies in vitro indicate that the a ntibiotic inhibits prokaryotic protein synthesis but not eukaryotic pr otein synthesis. Cell survival studies performed with strains of Esche richia coli indicate that the antibiotic is a bacteriostatic agent.