Biosynthesis of prodigiosin by white strains of Serratia marcescens isolated from patients

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To determine whether the pigment produced by most clinical isolates of S. marcescens was prodigiosin, 65 white strains of S. marcescens isolated from patients were studied. On the basis of response to MBC [4-methoxy-2,2''-bipyrrole-5-carboxaldehyde], the strains were assigned to 1 of 3 classes: class 1 (14 strains), strains remaining white; class 2 (48 strains), strains becoming gray or pink; and class 3 (3 strains), strains becoming blue. Ethanol extracts of class 2 and 3 bacteria did not behave like prodigiosin when acidified or alkalinized; the pigment spectra were not similar to prodigiosin spectra. When class 3 strains were furnished with MBC plus 2-methyl-3-amylpyrrole (MAP), the other immediate precursor of prodigiosin, the pigment synthesized was characteristic of prodigiosin. Class 1 and 2 strains responded identically to MBC plus MAP and MBC alone. Although the majority of S. marcescens white strains from patients formed pigments in the presence of MBC, the pigments were not prodigiosin. A few strains did synthesize prodigiosin, but only if furnished with MBC and MAP.