A FAMILY OF NOVEL MACROCYCLIC LACTONES, THE SACCHAROCARCINS PRODUCED BY SACCHAROTHRIX AEROCOLONIGENES SUBSP ANTIBIOTICA .1. TAXONOMY, FERMENTATION, ISOLATION AND BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES

A nocardioform actinomycete, SCC 1886, isolated from a soil sample col lected in Ohio was found to produce, in fermentation, six novel macroc yclic lactones, the saccharocarcins. The producing culture was identif ied as Saccharothrix aerocolonigenes subsp. antibiotica based on the f ormation of fragmenting substrate mycelia, aerial mycelia that coalesc e to form aerial colonies, whole-cell hydrolysates that contain meso-d iaminopimelic acid, galactose and rhamnose and physiological compariso ns to type species of the genus. Peak production of the saccharocarcin s occurred after 95 hours of fermentation in a starch rich medium. The compounds were isolated from the fermentation broth by solvent extrac tion and purified by HPLC. Isolated compounds were active against Micr ococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus and Chlamydia trachomatis; none were cytotoxic at concentrations up to 1.0 mu g/ml.