418 A MANUAL OF THE PENICILLIA 



comes of special interest and significance when one considers the true iden- 

 tity of the strain in question. Three cultures in our possession purported 

 to represent Zaleski's variety, and all presumably derived from his type, 

 when examined in our current study uniformly represented some member 

 of the Fasciculata approximating P. cyclopium West., hence are not closely 

 related to the P. hrevi-compactum series. Oxford and Raistrick also noted 

 a yield of 0.4 per cent ergosteryl palmitate from the mycelium of a strain 

 of P. iialicum. This too is interesting, for Zaleski's variety is more nearly 

 related to this species than to the P. hrevi-compactum series. 



Wilkins and Harris (1943) reported a strain of Penicillium hrevi-compac- 

 tum to produce an antibiotic that inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus 

 aureus, but not Escherichia coli or Pseudoynonas aeruginosa. Florey, et al. 

 (1946) subsequently demonstrated that this antibiotic action was due to 

 mycophenolic acid and investigated, in limited detail, methods for its pro- 

 duction and recovery. It was shown to be comparatively active against 

 species of Corynehacterium and to inhibit the growth of some pathogenic 

 fungi. Abraham (1945) reported culture liquors from P. hrevi-compactum 

 to contain normycophenolic acid (CieHisOe) which acted as a growth in- 

 hibitor for *S. aureus. The compound had been previously noted by Clut- 

 terbuck and Raistrick (1933). 



Oxford and Raistrick (1935) reported the production of t-erythritol in 

 small yields from the mycelia of Penicillium hrevi-compactum and P. cyclo- 

 pium Westling (see p. 507). 



