MICROBIAL PRODUCTION OF VITAMIN B₁₂ ANTIMETABOLITES. I

N⁵-HYDROXY-L-ARGININE FROM BACILLUS CEREUS 439

Abstract

One of the vitamin B₁₂ antimetabolites produced by Bacillus cereus 439 has been identified as N⁵-hydroxy-L-arginine on the basis of its mass-spectrum, ¹³C-NMR, and mobilities in thin-layer chromatography and paper chromatography in comparison with standard material. The inhibition of growth of Escherichia coli (Davis 113-3)by this compound was reversed by vitamin B₁₂ and was potentiated by L-lysine and 4-hydroxy-L-lysine. Vitamin B₁₂ also partially reversed the inhibition of growth by N⁵-hydroxy-L-arginine of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, other strains of E. coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. While neither N⁵-hydroxy-L-arginine nor L-lysine affected the growth in tissue culture of KB cells, the mixture of these two amino acids was quite inhibitory.