Chapter VII — 117 — Antagonistic Properties 



Table 22 (Cont.) 



a. Constituents of streptomycin complex: 



(a) Streptidine-streptobiosamine, C-iiHa^NyOio Strepomycin 



(b) Mannose derivative of streptomycin Mannosidostrepomycin 



(c) Reduced streptomycin Dibydrostreptomycin 



b. Streptomycin-like materials: 



(a) Antibiotic F, (b) Strepomycin II 



3. Active against streptomycin-resistant M. tuberculosis Neomycin 



4. Basic compounds active against rickettsiae and larger viruses Aureomycin 



II. Removed from charcoal by neutral alcohol, soluble in neutral aqueous solutions; 



narrow antibiotic spectrum against certain gram-positive and gram-negative 



bacteria Grisein 



1. Grisein-like material, still narrower spectrum than grisein, mostly enteric 

 bacteria Antibiotic 5310 



D. Proteins and polypeptides: 



I. Colourless preparation, possessing lytic properties against living gram-positive 



bacteria and dead gram-negative bacteria Actinomycetin 



1. Active fraction of actinomycetin ActinoZ.yme 



II. Active largely against micrococci; lyses cell membrane Actinomyces lyso^yme 



III. Combined with orange pigment; largely bacteriostatic against gram-positive 

 bacteria Micromonosporin 



E. Incompletely described agents: 



I. Active against the smegma bacillus S/negmatis factor 



II. Active against bacteriophages Antiphage factors 



III. Active against viruses Antivirotics 



F. Agents not produced readily in liquid media; activity obtained only on agar streak; 



I. Little known substances Insoluble factors 



theriuvi, may be antagonistic to certain species of actinomycetes but 

 can be antagonized by others. Certain bacteria, Hke Fs. fluorescens, 

 are markedly antagonistic to actinomycetes as a whole, causing their 

 lysis. Numerous fungi are capable of producing antibiotics, such as 

 penicillin and clavacin, which are very effective against actinomycetes. 



Production of Antibiotics by Actinomycetes:— Prior to 1940, 

 knowledge of the antibacterial properties of actinomycetes was limited 

 to those of the living organisms. Only two antibiotic substances— one 

 known as actinomycetin and the other as actinomyces h'sozyme— were 

 recognized. Both had been isolated only in a crude state. Welsch 

 reported recently (505) in detail upon the antibacterial properties of 

 actinomycetin. The activity of this preparation was expressed in terms 

 of mycolytic units per milliliter of culture filtrate of S. alhus. A unit 

 was expressed in terms of lysis of a known suspension of heat-killed cells 

 of E. colt. 



Mycolysis of the heated bacteria by actinomycetin took place at pH 

 3.5 to 11.0 (opt. 7.5-8.5); optimum temperature 38° to 40°. E. coli 

 cells killed by chemicals are also dissolved by actinomycetin in a manner 

 similar to the heated cells. The lytic principle is stable at pH 5.0 to 



