538 A MANUAL OF THE PENICILLIA 



As noted earlier (see p. 520), the antibiotic under consideration is also 

 produced by Penicillium expansum- Link (Anslow, Raistrick, and Smith, 

 1943), and material of this origin has been referred to as expansine by 

 Duyvene de Wit, et al. (1944). Karow and Foster (1944) found it to be 

 produced also by a species of Gymnoascus and two unidentified Penicillia. 

 Kent and Heatley (1945) obtained it from a culture identified as P. urticae 

 Bainier, with which P. patidum is synonymous. Atkinson (1942, 1943) 

 reported an antibiotic, designated penicidin, from a culture approximating 

 P. terrestre Jensen which is believed to be identical with claviformin. The 

 production of this antibiotic is not restricted to the genus Penicillium, 

 but within the genus it does seem to be more or less characteristic of certain 

 species of the Fasciculata and forms possibly closely related. 



Unfortunately, subsequent investigators failed to substantiate the orig- 

 inal claims for patulin (claviformin) as a cure for the common cold (Stans- 

 feld, Francis, and Stuart-Harris, 1944). Furthermore, it is now generally 

 agreed (Broom, et al, 1944) that the antibiotic is too toxic to permit thera- 

 peutic use that involves injection into animals or man. Herrick (1945) 

 and Sanders (1946) have shown that it is highly fmigistatic, hence may find 

 application in the treatment of superficial fungus infections in man and 

 animals. Laboratory experiments reported by Anslow, Raistrick, and 

 Smith (1943), and Timonin (1946) suggest its possible use in combating 

 certain plant-disease-producing fungi. 



Professor Raistrick and his associates have published a series of papers 

 on the biochemistry of a culture received from Biourge, as Penicillium 

 griseo-fulvimi DiercLx (Biourge's No. 34). For reasons noted above, we 

 believe this culture represents a member of the P. urticae series. Anslow 

 and Raistrick (1931) isolated 6-hydroxy-2-methylbenzoic acid (6-methyl- 

 saHcylic acid) as a product of the metabolism of glucose (yield 2.42 per 

 cent). The compound crystallized from chloroform as white needles and 

 melted without decomposition at 170-171°C. It had the empirical for- 

 mula CgHgOs and was believed to be phenolic in nature since it gave a pur- 

 ple color with FeCls. 



A second metabolic product, gentisic acid (2:5-dihydroxybenzoic acid) 

 was isolated by Raistrick and Simonart (1933) from cultures of Penicillium 

 griseo-fulvum grown upon a Czapek-Dox medium containing 8 per cent glu- 

 cose and 0.25 per cent NaNOa. Mannitol and fumaric acid were also 

 isolated. 



Griseofulvin, CitHitOsCI, still another metabolic product, was isolated 

 by Oxford, Raistrick, and Simonart (1939) from cultures grown upon media 

 containing glucose as the sole source of C. 



Simonart (1934) studied the influence of temperature on the production 

 of 6-methylsalicylic and gentisic acids by Penicillium griseo-fulvum but ob- 

 served no marked difference between 24° and 30°C. 



