Prodigiosin-like Pigments from Actinomadura (Nocardia) pelletieri and Actinomadura madurae

Thirteen red strains ofActinomadura (Nocardia) pelletieri and three ofA. madurae were shown to produce prodigiosin-like pigments. Both of the two major pigments which were observed on thin-layer chromatograms hadRF values significantly greater than prodigiosin. The main pigment fromA. madurae 953 was shown by mass and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies to be nonylprodigiosin. The major pigment fromA. pellitieri had a C11 H22 side chain in a ring form, but it was distinctly different from metacycloprodigiosin. “Prodiginine” was proposed as a name for the invariant aromatic portion of the prodigiosin structure.