BE-31405, a new antifungal antibiotic produced by Penicillium minioluteum - I. Description of producing organism, fermentation, isolation, physico-chemical and biological properties

A new antifungal antibiotic, BE-31405, was isolated from the culture broth of a fungal strain, Penicillium minioluteum F31405. BE-31405 was isolated b y adsorption on high porous polymer resin (Diaion HP-20), followed by solve nt extraction, precipitation and crystallization. BE-31405 showed potent gr owth inhibitory activity against pathogenic fungal strains such as Candida albicans, Candida glabrata and Cryptococcus neoformans, but did not show cy totoxic activity-against mammalian cells such as P388 mouse leukemia. The m echanism studies indicated that BE-31405 inhibited the protein synthesis of C. albicans but not of mammalian cells.