Actinomyces antibioticus , a New Soil Organism Antagonistic to Pathogenic and Non-pathogenic Bacteria

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A. antibioticus belongs to the chromogenic types of actinomycetes, producing brown to black pigments on peptone and protein media. By the use of solvents, including ethyl ether, petrol ether, ethyl alcohol and chloroform, an active substance was isolated and separated into 2 crystalline fractions, designated as actinomycin A and actinomycin B. The 1st fraction was found to be highly bacteriostatic; the 2d had little bacteriostatic action but was often strongly bactericidal. Actinomycin A possessed bacteriostatic properties against all bacteria tested. Although gram-positive bacteria were much more sensitive than gram-negative organisms, there was found a marked variation in the degree of sensitivity among the various bacteria within each of these 2 groups. Fungi were also sensitive to actinomycin, the degree of sensitivity varying with the nature of the organisms. Actinomycin is highly toxic to animals, when injected intraven., intraperitoneally, or intramusc.