[Use of antibiotics in selecting a nystatin producer]

The lethal and mutagenic effect of streptomycin and nystatin on Act. noursei, strain 408 producing nystatin was studied. The survival of the spores of strain 408 on the medium with streptomycin decreased with an increase in the antibiotic concentration. Streptomycin had a selective effect on the nystatin-producing organism decreasing the frequency of morphologically changed and low active variants and revealing highly active and antibiotic stable variants. The survival of the spores of strain 408 on the medium with nystatin (20,000 units/ml) amounted to 35 per cent. Nystatin had an inhibitory effect on the organism producing it which was evident from delayed growth and significant modification variation of the colonies, as well as from a marked increase in the number of the variants characterized by low antibiotic production.