Ecomycins, unique antimycotics from Pseudomonas viridiflava

A novel family of peptide antimycotics, termed ecomycins, is described from Pseudomonas viridiflava, a plant-associated bacterium. Ecomycins B and C have molecular masses of 1153 and 1181. They contain equimolar amounts of a beta hydroxyaspartic acid, homoserine, threonine, serine, alanine, glycine and one unknown amino acid. Fatty acids were detectable after hydrolysis, methylation and gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy. The ecomycins have significant bioactivities against a wide range of human and plant pathogenic fungi. The minimum inhibitory concentration values for ecomycin B were 4.0 micrograms ml-1 against Cryptococcus neoformans and 31 micrograms ml-1 against Candida albicans. Pseudomonas viridiflava also produces what appears to be syringotoxin, an antifungal lipopeptide previously described from Ps. syringae.