CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PIGMENT OF MICROCOCCUS VIOLAGABRIELLAE

Abstract
Production of the red insoluble pigment by Micrococcus violagabriellae was studied. Pigmentation was found to require oxygen and high levels of iron and to be stimulated by tryptophan alone among the amino acids. The pigment was isolated, purified, and analyzed chemically and spectrophotometrically. It was found to be similar to pulcherrimin from Candida pulcherrima. Immunological cross reactivity and analysis of derivatives confirmed the similarity between the bacterial and yeast pigments. From these data it is postulated that the pigment is an iron chelate of pulcherriminic acid with an associated low molecular weight peptide moiety with glycine as the sole N-terminal amino acid. The pigment appears to differ from that of C. pulcherrima solely with respect to this peptide and in the mode of aggregation of the molecule.

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