† Present address: Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, U.S.A.
Streptomyces coelicolor was found to produce a third secondary metabolite, in addition to the antibiotics methylenomycin A and actinorhodin previously described. This is a red pigmented, highly non-polar compound with antibiotic activity against certain Grampositive bacteria. Mutants lacking the red compound fell into five cosynthetic classes. Representatives of each of the five classes were mapped to the chromosome of the producing organism, in a closely linked cluster. Genetic studies provided evidence that this new metabolite is distinct from actinorhodin and indicated that the two pigments do not share parts of the same biosynthetic pathway.
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