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The scope and potential of antibiotic conversion by microorganisms
Acta Microbiologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
|January 1, 1975
Summary
Microbial modification of nearly 50 antibiotics yields 16 reaction types. While many products lack antibiotic activity, some possess significant clinical or economic value, often utilizing whole cells or isolated enzymes for catalysis.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biotechnology
- Medicinal Chemistry
Background:
- Antibiotics are crucial in treating bacterial infections.
- Microbial transformations offer a route to novel antibiotic derivatives.
- Understanding these modifications is key to developing new therapeutic agents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To categorize and analyze known microbiological modifications of antibiotics.
- To assess the clinical and economic significance of antibiotic biotransformation products.
- To review the catalytic systems employed in these antibiotic modifications.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of reported antibiotic modifications.
- Classification of observed chemical changes into reaction types.
- Analysis of the biological activity and value of resulting products.
- Examination of biocatalysts used, including whole cells and purified enzymes.
Main Results:
- Cataloged modifications for approximately 50 antibiotics.
- Identified 16 distinct types of microbiological reactions.
- Found that most products were antibiotically inactive.
- Several products demonstrated significant clinical importance.
- Other products showed potential economic value.
Conclusions:
- Microbial biotransformation is a viable strategy for antibiotic derivatization.
- The clinical and economic impact of these modifications varies widely.
- Biocatalysis, using whole cells or enzymes, is central to these processes.