Antibacterial nitroacridine, Nitroakridin 3582: effects on bacterial growth and macromolecular biosynthesis in vivo

The antibacterial drug Nitroakridin 3582 inhibited the growth of selected grampositive bacteria more strongly than it inhibited the growth of gram-negative bacilli. Nitroakridin at concentrations of the order of 5 x 10(-5)m induced lysis of Bacillus licheniformis and Micrococcus lysodeikticus. At concentrations less than 10(-4)m, Nitroakridin 3582 reduced the exponential growth rate of Escherichia coli C-2; at 10(-4)m the drug was bacteriostatic, and, at concentrations greater than 10(-4)m, it was bactericidal. Prolonged bacteriostasis resulted in the formation of long filaments by E. coli, Serratia marcescens, Shigella sonnei, and Proteus mirabilis. The reversible effects of Nitroakridin 3582 on the growth of E. coli correlated with partial inhibitions of deoxyribonucleic acid biosynthesis; ribonucleic acid and protein syntheses were inhibited less strongly. Nitroakridin 3582 at concentrations greater than 2 x 10(-4)m, which block deoxyribonucleic acid biosynthesis, produced an accelerated bactericidal action.