Studies on Antagonists to Angustmycins

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A couple of nucleoside antibiotics, angustmycins A and C, were obtained from the broth filtrate of Streptomyces hygroscopicus var. angustmyceticus and characterized.^1),2) Their chemical structures were determined by Yüntsen. Angustmycin A is 6-amino-9-(L-1,2-fucopyranoseenyl)-purine and angustmycin C 6-amino-9-(β-D-psicofuranosyl)-purine.^3),4) The former antibiotic was first reported to exhibit antimicrobial activity exclusively against mycobacteria and the latter little activity.²⁾

These antibiotics showed a certain activity against transplantable animal tumors. Recently an antibiotic identical with angustmycin C was isolated and named psicofuranine by the workers of the Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan.^5–8)

Although both antibiotics were observed to exert antibacterial effects against grampositive organisms including mycobacteria in synthetic media, their activities decreased in organic media. It indicates that there exist certain antagonists, which are contained in the organic media. In this paper in vitro antimicrobial activity of angustmycins and effects of various vitamins and nucleic acid constituents on the activity of angustmycins are described, with reference to their mode of action.