Isolation of a new peptide antibiotic, permetin A, from Bacillus circulans

Permetin A was purified from the culture filtrate of Bacillus circulans AJ 3902 by extraction with n-butanol, precipitation with sodium helianthate, CM-cellulose column chromatography and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. The compound was found to be a new peptide antibiotic containing 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (Dab), leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, valine, serine (in a molar ratio of 3:2:1:1:1:1) and a fatty acid. This antibiotic showed activity in vitro against Gram-negative, Gram-positive and some anaerobic bacteria.