Chemical structure of streptothricins

Screening and Purification of Natural Products from Actinomycetes that Induce a "Rounded" Morphological Phenotype in Fission Yeast

This study was designed to identify and investigate bioactive natural product compounds that alter the cellular shape of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and induce a "rounded" or "small" cellular morphological phenotype. Bioassays using a range of antifungal agents against a multidrug-sensitive fission yeast strain, SAK950 showed that many induced a "rounded" phenotype. We then investigated whether 46 of the actinomycete strains identified in our previous study as inducing a similar phenotype produced antifungal agents of similar classes. We show that five of the strains produced streptothricin and that 26 strains produced polyenes, including fungichromin, filipin and candicidin, the last of which was produced by 24 strains. A taxonomic study of the strains indicated that the majority of the candicidin only producers were Streptomyces hydrogenans and S. albidoflavus whilst those that additionally produced streptothricin were related to S. enissocaesilis. A follow-up study to investigate the natural products made by related strains indicated that they followed a similar pattern. The identification of several compounds from the actinomycete strains similar to the antifungal agents initially tested confirm the validity of an approach using the S. pombe morphological phenotype and actinomycete taxonomy as a predictive tool for natural product identification.

Plant-Growth Promotion and Biocontrol Properties of Three Streptomyces spp. Isolates to Control Bacterial Rice Pathogens

Bacterial Panicle Blight caused by Burkholderia glumae is a major disease of rice, which has dramatically affected rice production around the world in the last years. In this study we describe the assessment of three Streptomyces isolates as biocontrol agents for B. glumae. Additionally, the presence of other plant-growth promoting abilities and their possible beneficial effects upon their inoculation on rice plants was evaluated as an ecological analysis for their future inoculation in rice crops. Two isolates (A20 and 5.1) inhibited growth of virulent B. glumae strains, as well as a wide range of bacterial and fungal species, while a third strain (7.1) showed only antifungal activity. In vitro tests demonstrated the ability of these strains to produce siderophores, Indoleacetic acid (IAA), extracellular enzymes and solubilizing phosphate. Greenhouse experiments with two rice cultivars indicated that Streptomyces A20 is able to colonize rice plants and promote plant growth in both cultivars. Furthermore, an egfp tagged mutant was generated and colonization experiments were performed, indicating that Streptomyces A20 –GFP was strongly associated with root hairs, which may be related to the plant growth promotion observed in the gnotobiotic experiments. In order to characterize the antimicrobial compounds produced by strain A20 bacteria, mass spectrometry analyses were performed. This technique indicated that A20 produced several antimicrobial compounds with sizes below 3 kDa and three of these molecules were identified as Streptotricins D, E and F. These findings indicate the potential of Streptomyces A20 as a biocontrol inoculant to protect rice plants against bacterial diseases.

A comprehensive review of glycosylated bacterial natural products

A systematic analysis of all naturally-occurring glycosylated bacterial secondary metabolites reported in the scientific literature up through early 2013 is presented. This comprehensive analysis of 15 940 bacterial natural products revealed 3426 glycosides containing 344 distinct appended carbohydrates and highlights a range of unique opportunities for future biosynthetic study and glycodiversification efforts.

Identification of streptothricin class antibiotics in the early-stage of antibiotics screening by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Several streptothricin antibiotics have been studied by tandem mass spectrometry. The dominant product ions were derived from the C(7)-N bond cleavage which lead to lose streptolidine from the [M+H](+). The fragmentation pathways of key ions were described and certained by parent scan. According to the generalized principles, streptothricin isomers could be distinguished easily by the difference of CID spectra. A facile method based on ion-pair RP-HPLC coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry has been established for the analysis of streptothricins in the fermentation broth of Streptomyces qinlingensis. A total of 19 streptothricin-like compounds were identified or tentatively characterized based on their mass spectral data, and in which 11 were the first reported compounds. This could be used as an important de-replication method in the programs of screening novel antibiotics.

Inhibition of epsilon-poly-L-lysine biosynthesis in Streptomycetaceae bacteria by short-chain polyols

Antimicrobial epsilon-poly-L-lysine (ePL) is secreted by Streptomycetaceae bacteria, and the mechanism of ePL biosynthesis remains to be elucidated. We previously reported that an unknown ePL derivative accumulates in the culture medium of ePL-producing bacteria when glycerol is added to the culture medium (Nishikawa and Ogawa, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68:3575-3581, 2002). In this study, by using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance, we identified the unknown derivative as the ester formed between the hydroxyl group of a glycerol molecule and the terminal carboxyl group of an ePL molecule. When a short-chain aliphatic polyol, such as ethylene glycol, propanediol, or butanediol, was added instead of glycerol, a corresponding ePL-polyol monoester accumulated in the culture medium of ePL-producing bacteria. ePL esterification was accompanied by ePL synthesis in intact cells and a cell-free system, but no esterification of exogenous ePL was observed. ePL-polyol esters were formed during lysine polymerization. The number of lysine residues of ePL-polyol esters decreased with increasing polyol concentration. Taken together, these results indicate that ePL synthesis is inhibited by polyols via esterification and that ePL elongation occurs via the incorporation of lysine monomers into the carboxyl terminus of ePL.

Astonishing diversity of natural surfactants: 4. Fatty acid amide glycosides, their analogs and derivatives

FA amide glycosides are of great interest, especially for the medicinal and pharmaceutical industries. These biologically active natural surfactants are good prospects for future chemical preparation of compounds useful as antibiotics, anticancer agents, or for industry. More than 200 unusual and interesting natural surfactants, including their chemical structures and biological activities, are described in this review article.

Aminoglycoside-streptothricin resistance gene cluster aadE-sat4-aphA-3 disseminated among multiresistant isolates of Enterococcus faecium

Seventy-two Enterococcus faecium isolates of different origins highly resistant to nourseothricin and streptomycin were studied. Sequencing of a genomic fragment from two isolates identified a gene cluster, aadE-sat4-aphA-3, which has been isolated recently in staphylococci and Campylobacter coli. Patterns of digested PCR products of aadE-sat4-aphA-3 were identical for all isolates.

Streptothricin biosynthesis is catalyzed by enzymes related to nonribosomal peptide bond formation

In a search for strains producing biocides with a wide spectrum of activity, a new strain was isolated. This strain was taxonomically characterized as Streptomyces rochei F20, and the chemical structure of the bioactive product extracted from its fermentation broth was determined to be a mixture of streptothricins. From a genomic library of the producer strain prepared in the heterologous host Streptomyces lividans, a 7.2-kb DNA fragment which conferred resistance to the antibiotic was isolated. DNA sequencing of 5.2 kb from the cloned fragment revealed five open reading frames (ORFs) such that ORF1, -2, -3, and -4 were transcribed in the same direction while ORF5 was convergently arranged. The deduced product of ORF1 strongly resembled those of genes involved in peptide formation by a nonribosomal mechanism; the ORF2 product strongly resembled that of mphA and mphB isolated from Escherichia coli, which determines resistance to several macrolides by a macrolide 2'-phosphotransferase activity; the ORF3 product had similarities with several hydrolases; and the ORF5 product strongly resembled streptothricin acetyltransferases from different gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. ORF5 was shown to be responsible for acetyl coenzyme A-dependent streptothricin acetylation. No similarities in the databases for the ORF4 product were found. Unlike other peptide synthases, that for streptothricin biosynthesis was arranged as a multienzymatic system rather than a multifunctional protein. Insertional inactivation of ORF1 and ORF2 (and to a lesser degree, of ORF3) abolishes antibiotic biosynthesis, suggesting their involvement in the streptothricin biosynthetic pathway.

Plasmid-borne streptothricin resistance in gram-negative bacteria

Plasmids, which code for a new type of drug resistance due to the acetylation of streptothricin and belonging to various incompatibility groups (I1, I2, W3, FII, S, X, and N) were identified in gram-negative bacteria. The gene for the acetyltransferase is closely linked to a gene for the streptomycin/spectinomycin adenylyltransferase AAD-3" on a novel type of a transposon, designated Tn1825. This is related to Tn7.

[Isolation of streptothricin resistant mutants from E coli K12, strain A19]

Mutants with various levels of resistance to streptothricin were isolated from Escherichia coli K12, strain A19 after mutagenesis with N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitroso-guanidine and ethylmethane-sulfonate. Nourseothricin, a mixture of streptothricin F and D was the selection agent. Spontaneous resistant mutants could not be found. The streptothricin-resistant mutant E. coli A19 Stcr 2/2/1 shows cross-resistance to some of the aminoglycoside antibiotics investigated, but no cross-resistance to chloramphenicol and chlortetracyclin. These results indicate similar mechanisms of action of streptothricin and aminoglycoside antibiotics.