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Antibiotics production by an actinomycete isolated from the termite gut
Author(s) -
Matsui Toru,
Tanaka Junichi,
Namihira Tomoyuki,
Shinzato Naoya
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of basic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.58
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1521-4028
pISSN - 0233-111X
DOI - 10.1002/jobm.201100500
Subject(s) - biology , antibiotics , microbiology and biotechnology , streptomyces , micrococcus , bacteria , actinobacteria , bacillus (shape) , yeast , 16s ribosomal rna , biochemistry , genetics
As well as the search for new antibiotics, a new resource or strains for the known antibiotics is also important. Microbial symbionts in the gut of termites could be regarded as one of the feasible resource for such purpose. In this study, antibiotic‐producing actinomycetes were screened from symbionts of the termite gut. 16SrRNA sequence analysis for the 10 isolates revealed that they belong to actinomycetes such as Streptomyces sp., Kitasatospora sp., and Mycobacterium sp. A culture broth from one of the isolate, namely strain CA1, belonging to the genera Streptomyces exhibited antagonistic activity against actinomycetes ( Micrococcus spp.), gram‐positive bacteria ( Bacillus spp.), and yeast ( Candida spp.). The structures of 2 compounds isolated from the culture broth of the strain CA1 were identified as those of actinomycin X2 and its analog, D. This study is the first to report that some symbionts of the termite gut are antibiotic‐producing actinomycetes, and suggest that the termite gut is a feasible resource for bioprospecting. (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)