Vol. 44 TORREYA April 1944 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE CLUB 



Minutes of the Meeting of December 7, 1943 



The meeting was called to order at 8 :15 p.m. by the President, Dr. William 

 J. Robbins, in Room 601 Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University. There 

 were 150 members and friends present. 



The minutes of the preceding meeting were accepted as read. 



The budget for the year 1944 was presented by Dr. Levine, and a motion 

 for its acceptance was passed by the Club. 



Dr. Robbins announced the Annual Meeting and Dinner to be held at the 

 Men's Faculty Club, Columbia University, on January 4, 1944. 



The scientific program consisted of a lecture by Dr. Charles Thorn entitled 

 "A Mycologist Looks at Antibiotics, Especially Penicillin." The speaker's 

 abstract follows : 



To a group of botanists, the current literature of antibiotic substances presents a concept 

 not new but expressed in quite different terms from those familiar. It has long been known 

 that a walnut tree discourages some other plants from living near by. Windling first re- 

 garded the attack of Trichoderma upon other molds as parasitism. I reported Penicillium 

 rugulosum as attacking and destroying Aspergillus niger. Others discussed the "staling 

 effect" which kept two molds grown in the same Petri dish from overrunning each other. 

 Miss Morrow found a whole series of molds and bacteria in Texas soil which would 

 inhibit Phymatotrichum, the root rot organism of cotton, in Petri dish cultures. The change 

 of interpretation came when Fleming showed that his strain of Penicillium notatum pro- 

 duces a substance which can be isolated and used to stop the growth of bacteria. Florey and 

 his colleagues followed Fleming and laid a foundation for producing penicillin as a thera- 

 peutic agent. 



Today we have a large number of laboratories and manufacturing plants putting all 

 their energy into the adjustment of laboratory and industrial procedures to the demands of 

 P. notatum in producing penicillin. Certain features of this fermentation must be discussed. 

 (1) The mold being aerobic can be grown in "still" culture, i.e. on the surface of liquid and 

 solid media without agitation, or in submerged culture in liquids that are thoroughly aerated 

 by some shaking apparatus, by stirring or by blowing air through the mass. Under these 

 conditions the mold grows as pellets of hyphae ; short, coarse cells radiating from growth 

 centers to form masses up to 2 mm. in diameter without producing conidia. (2) To produce 

 a satisfactory yield, however, the mycelial mass must all reach the physiologically mature 

 or spore producing stage at one time. Penicillin is produced at this stage whether spores 

 actually appear or not. (3) P. notatum is unstable under continuous culture. Unless handled 

 carefully a strain breaks down into several, differing in appearance, amount of spore pro- 

 duction, and often producing very little penicillin. (4) New strains have been collected from 

 widely different lands. These vary from producing very little penicillin to strains approxi- 

 mating the best we have. (5) Manufacture procedures proposed vary from 1,000 gallon vats 

 to large flasks on the shaking machine, or in still culture to many types of bottles, flasks, 

 test tubes, or gauze. It is hoped that the needs will be met by a combination of these 

 proposals. 



12 



