Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 17, 2026

A Complete Method for Evaluating the Performance of Photocatalysts for the Degradation of Antibiotics in Environmental Remediation
Published on: October 6, 2022
Fungal Biotransformation of Tetracycline Antibiotics
Zhuo Shang1, Angela A Salim1, Zeinab Khalil1
1Institute for Molecular Bioscience and ‡School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland , St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
Abstract:
The commercial antibiotics tetracycline (3), minocycline (4), chlortetracycline (5), oxytetracycline (6), and doxycycline (7) were biotransformed by a marine-derived fungus Paecilomyces sp. to yield seco-cyclines A-H (9-14, 18 and 19) and hemi-cyclines A-E (20-24). Structures were assigned by detailed spectroscopic analysis, and in the case of 10 X-ray crystallography. Parallel mechanisms account for substrate-product specificity, where 3-5 yield seco-cyclines and 6 and 7 yield hemi-cyclines. The susceptibility of 3-7 to fungal biotransformation is indicative of an unexpected potential for tetracycline "degradation" (i.e., antibiotic resistance) in fungal genomes. Significantly, the fungal-derived tetracycline-like viridicatumtoxins are resistant to fungal biotransformation, providing chemical insights that could inform the development of new tetracycline antibiotics resistant to enzymatic degradation.
More Related Videos
08:22Author Spotlight: A New and Efficient Method for Comprehensive Metabolite Cytotoxicity Assessment of Triazole Pesticides in Plants
Published on: December 22, 2023
07:32Biolistic Transformation of a Fluorescent Tagged Gene into the Opportunistic Fungal Pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans
Published on: March 19, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Drug Biotransformation: Overview
Drug Biotransformation: Overview
Phase II Reactions: Miscellaneous Conjugation Reactions
A key example involves the conjugation of cyanide ions, which impair cellular respiration and alter hemoglobin into non-oxygen-carrying cyanmethemoglobin. To neutralize this threat, a sulfur atom from thiosulphate is transferred to the cyanide ion, catalyzed by the enzyme rhodanese, resulting in an inactive compound called thiocyanate. The production of...
Factors Affecting Drug Biotransformation: Biological
Species differences: Variations in enzyme systems across species can cause disparities in drug metabolism. For instance, humans may metabolize certain drugs faster than rodents, altering therapeutic effects.
Strain differences: Genetic variations within a species can result in differing enzyme activity, impacting drug response and toxicity. For example, some mouse strains may...
Factors Affecting Drug Biotransformation: Physicochemical and Chemical Properties of Drugs
The drug's acidity or basicity is essential in...
Pharmacogenetics of Phase II Enzymes: N-acetyltransferase, Thiopurine S-methyltransferase, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase