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Fatty acid and β‐amino acid syntheses in strains of Bacillus subtilis producing iturinic antibiotics
Author(s) -
Hourdou MarieLaure,
Besson Francoise,
Tenoux Isabelle,
Michel Georges
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
lipids
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.601
H-Index - 120
eISSN - 1558-9307
pISSN - 0024-4201
DOI - 10.1007/bf02544538
Subject(s) - bacillus subtilis , chemistry , biosynthesis , antibiotics , amino acid , fatty acid , biochemistry , fatty acid synthesis , stereochemistry , bacteria , biology , gene , genetics
Abstract Iturinic antibiotics, produced by different strains of Bacillus subtilis , contain long‐chain β‐amino acids (β‐AA). The regulation of the synthesis of fatty acids (FA) and β‐AA was studied by modifying the culture medium. Addition of possible precursors, branched‐chain α‐amino acids, to the medium affected the FA and β‐AA compositions. According to this, the B. subtilis strains can be divided into two groups. The first contains the producers of mycosubtilin and bacillomycin F which synthesize a high level of iso C 16 chains; the second contains the producers of bacillomycin D, bacillomycin L and iturin which synthesize a high level of n carbon chains. The incorporation of radioactive sodium acetate into FA and β‐AA showed rapid FA synthesis followed by a second synthetic step. Although the detailed mechanism has not yet been elucidated, this second step, corresponding to the β‐AA synthesis, seemed to be a key step in determining the alkyl chain of β‐AA.