Restoration of aerial mycelium and antibiotic production in a Streptomyces griseoflavus arginine auxotroph

J Gen Microbiol. 1984 Aug;130(8):2007-13. doi: 10.1099/00221287-130-8-2007.

Abstract

An arginine auxotrophic mutant was obtained from Streptomyces griseoflavus (bicozamycin-producing strain). The mutant grew on synthetic agar supplemented with either arginine, ornithine, citrulline or argininosuccinate, but produced massive aerial mycelium and bicozamycin only with citrulline. In liquid culture, citrulline also completely restored the ability of the mutant to produce bicozamycin. Culture with arginine or ornithine markedly changed intracellular pools of these ornithine-cycle amino acids, but did not affect the other amino acid pools. The ability to produce antibiotic (but not that to form aerial mycelium) was partially restored by certain mutations to ethionine resistance (Eth-1 and Eth-2). These mutations caused decreased or increased S-adenosylmethionine synthetase activity, but both resulted in a 4.5-8-fold increase in the intracellular S-adenosylmethionine pool. Exogenous addition of S-adenosylmethionine (0.5-3 mM) also partially restored the antibiotic-producing ability of the arginine auxotroph. No difference in the S-adenosylmethionine pool was observed in organisms grown with arginine and citrulline. It was suggested that citrulline and S-adenosylmethionine are somehow involved in the initiation of differentiation and secondary metabolism of S. griseoflavus.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acids / metabolism
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / biosynthesis*
  • Arginine / metabolism*
  • Bridged Bicyclo Compounds / biosynthesis
  • Bridged Bicyclo Compounds, Heterocyclic
  • Citrulline / metabolism
  • Drug Resistance, Microbial
  • Ethionine / pharmacology
  • Methionine Adenosyltransferase / metabolism
  • Mutation
  • Ornithine / metabolism
  • S-Adenosylmethionine / metabolism
  • Spores, Bacterial
  • Streptomyces / drug effects
  • Streptomyces / metabolism*
  • Streptomyces / physiology

Substances

  • Amino Acids
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Bridged Bicyclo Compounds
  • Bridged Bicyclo Compounds, Heterocyclic
  • Citrulline
  • S-Adenosylmethionine
  • Arginine
  • Ornithine
  • Methionine Adenosyltransferase
  • bicozamycin
  • Ethionine