Mechanism of self-protection in a puromycin-producing micro-organism

Puromycin is a potent inhibitor of bacterial protein synthesis, but puromycin-producing Streptomyces alboniger KCC S-0309 is tolerant to the antibiotic in vivo. Puromycin bound to both 30S and 50S ribosomal subunits from S. alboniger and inhibited polyuridylate-directed polyphenylalanine synthesis by the ribosomes. However, the organism possessed a novel puromycin-inactivating enzyme which acetylated the antibiotic at the 2''-NH2 group of the O-methyltyrosine moiety.