Studies on Antiviral Antibiotics from Streptomyces. III Mode of Action of Phagocidin on Bacterial Virus

抄録

Phagocidin⁽¹⁾ is a new antiviral antibiotic isolated by N. Higo in 1956. This antibiotic is produced from Streptomyces sp. No. C^-930 which possesses an unique biological property showing a strong antiphage- but no antibacterial activity. About 0.3mcg/ml of it is capable of inactivating 5096 of a T₃ phage population, while no bacterial population tested was injured even with 200mcg/ml. Phagocidin seems to be an acidic substance, is soluble in various organic solvents and weak alkaline water, and is stable in a weak alkaline, but not in an acidic solution. Though several streptomyces antiphage-antibiotics ^(2)(3)(4)(5) have been already reported, the modes of their actions have been described only in a few cases. Among them, phagolessin A₅₈⁽²⁾ and phagomycin⁽⁴⁾ were shown to be active against free phages, but not against intracellular viral growth.

The present paper deals with the problem of how phagocidin is active against bacterial virus. It is noteworthy that phagocidin indicates not only a high activity against free phages but also an activity against phages adsorbed onto host cells.