I'HonrcrioN oi' imcmiin'I's 



Table 50 — Continued 



205 



b. Iinptiro, firiscMii-likc ftictoi', piodnci imi influenced markedly l)y iron, nnriower- sped iinti t linii 

 firiseiii. 



Aiiiihidiie ;{r)i{) 



c. (Irisein like suh-tances. 



Allxiniyciii 



4. l'()ssil)l\' eonlaininfi pyriH)le nuelei 



a. Red, weak l)ase, Ceri-eyHaB-unNisOi;, . Sparin.niy soluble in watec and etlier. 



Nocardiainn 



5. \'i()let i)ij;meMt 



a. Soluble in etliei', water, and alcohols 



Hliolocidin 



6. Partially piirihed coinijouiids 



a. Xoutral, reddish i)urple powder; ant ii'unti.'d ;ind ;int ibacterial. 



Micro ('in A 



b. Acidic, yellowish red powdei-; antifungal and antibuctei-ial. 



Microcin B 



of the cluMiiistrv and activity of this i^roup 

 of aiitil)ioti('s (Waksnian, Katz and \'iiiiiig, 

 1958). 



.4 ctinorhodin 



Brockniaini and Pini, and von Plotho iso- 

 lated, in 1947, a culture of streptomyce.s 

 which produced a polyoxyquinone pigment, 

 d(\signated as actinorhodin. It was soluble in 

 acetone, pyridine, and dioxane. It gave a 

 l)iue color with H2SO4, decomposing at 270°C. 

 This pigment formed two distinct bands in 

 the \isible spectrum. It was active antibiot- 

 ically. The antibiotic is believed to possess 

 a quinone structure, having three free hy- 

 (Iroxyl groups, one carboxyl group, and two 

 hytlroxyl groups adjacent to a carboxyl 

 group (Brockmann and Hieronymus). 

 Shockman and Waksman found that rhodo- 

 mycetin is similar to actinorhodin. The anti- 

 biotic shows a blue color in alkaline solution, 

 dark blue in sulfuric acid, and becomes red- 

 \iolet on addition of boric acid. 



ThiohUin, Aiireothncin, and Thioanrin 



This group of antibiotics is characterized 

 by the presence of sulfur in the molecule. 



Tanner et al. have shown that thiolutin 

 (C8H8N2O2S2) crystallizes as brilliant yellow 

 needles which have no definite melting 

 point but darken at about 255°C. It is soluble 

 ill alcohol, (4il()i()f()rni, glacial acetic acid, 



pyridine, and dimethylformamide; slightly 

 soluble in ether, petroleum ether, and ben- 

 zene; and sparingly soluble in water. It is 

 very stable in acid solution and withstands 

 heating for 1 hour at 100°C. It is active 

 against a variety of gram-positive, gram- 

 negative, and acid-fast organisms, as well 

 as fungi, Endarmxha histolytica, and certain 

 hcmoflagellatcs. 



Aureothricin also belongs to this group. 



Bolhofer (t al. obtained bright orange- 

 yellow crystals of thioanrin (C14H12N4O4S4) 

 which melted with decomposition at 179 to 

 181 °C. Thioanrin is ielati\ely insoluble in 

 water and in many oi'ganic soh'ents. It in- 

 hibits the growth of various bacteria, but 

 unlike thiolutin, it shows little activity 

 against finigi. 



Coclicolorin 



This is a purplish red powder, m.p. 142 to 

 14()°C, which was found (Hatsuta) to be red 

 at pH 5.0, purple at pH (i to 7, and green 

 at pH 8.0 or above. It is soluble in water at 

 pH 8.0 or above. It is soluble in ethanol and 

 other organic solvents, but insoluble in pe- 

 troleum ether. It is active primarily against 

 gram-positive bacteria. 



Xanthomijcins A and B 



These yellow antibiotics were isolated by 

 Thorne and Petei'son. Rao and Peterson con- 



