Regioselective transformation of ciprofloxacin to N-acetylciprofloxacin bythe fungus Mucor ramannianus

A strain of the saprobic fungus Mucor ramannianus, isolated from a forest, was used to demonstrate the potential for ciprofloxacin biotransformation b y zygomycetes in the environment. The fungus carried out the regioselective N-acetylation of ciprofloxacin to a single product, which was purified fro m culture extracts by high-performance liquid chromatography. The metabolit e was identified by mass and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry as 1-c yclopropyl-6-fluoro-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-7-(4-acetyl-1-piperazinyl)-3-quinolin ecarboxylic acid. (C) 1999 Federation of European Microbiological Societies . Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.