On the Antibacterial Action of Cultures of a Penicillium, with Special Reference to Their Use in the Isolation of B. influenzae

Abstract

WHILE working with staphylococcus variants a number of culture-plates were set aside on the laboratory bench and examined from time to time. In the examinations these plates were necessarily exposed to the air and they became contaminated with various micro-organisms. It was noticed that around a large colony of a contaminating mould the staphylococcus colonies became transparent and were obviously undergoing lysis (see Fig. 1).Subcultures of this mould were made and experiments conducted with a view to ascertaining something of the properties of the bacteriolytic substance which had evidently been formed in the mould culture and which had diffused into the surrounding medium. It was found that broth in which the mould had been grown at room temperature for one or two weeks had acquired marked inhibitory, bactericidal and bacteriolytic properties to many of the more common pathogenic bacteria. CHARACTERS OF THE MOULD.The colony appears as a white fluffy mass which rapidly increases in size and after a few days sporulates, the centre becoming dark green and later in old cultures darkens to almost black. In four or five days a bright yellow colour is produced which diffuses into the medium. In certain conditions a reddish colour can be observed in the growth.In broth the mould grows on the surface as a white fluffy growth changing in a few days to a dark green felted mass. The broth becomes bright yellow and this yellow pigment is not extracted by CHCL3. The reaction of the broth becomes markedly alkaline, the pH varying from 8-5 to 9. Acid is produced in three or four days in glucose and saccharose broth. There is no' acid production in 7 days in lactose, mannite or dulcite broth.Growth is slow at 370 C. and is most rapid about 200C. No growth is observed under anaerobic conditions.In its morphology this organism is a penicillium and in all its characters it most closely resembles P. rubrum. Biourge (1923) states that he has never found P. rubrum in nature and that it is an " animal de laboratoire." This penicillium is not uncommon in the air of the laboratory.

RETRACTED: Stabilization of vaccines and antibiotics in silk and eliminating the cold chain

“…Our model antibiotics were penicillin and tetracycline. Dating back to Fleming's original 1929 paper on penicillin (26), penicillin is unstable in solution, breaking down within weeks at 25°C and within 24 h at 37°C (27). Tetracycline possesses broad specificity and low cost, but undergoes rapid photolysis and hydrolysis in solution (28,29).…”

Reactivity of Platelia Aspergillus Galactomannan Antigen with Piperacillin-Tazobactam: Clinical Implications Based on Achievable Concentrations in Serum

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“…Todos estos son deseos que gravitan sobre el mundo de la infectología. Aunque el panorama parece muy sombrío, es necesario reafirmar que los antibióticos son moléculas prodigiosas que han venido trayendo bienestar a la humanidad desde la providencial observación de Fleming (12), y que, aun teniendo que enfrentar el gigantesco desafío de la resistencia y las múltiples acciones colaterales que esta pueda ocasionar (13), seguirán siendo las armas más poderosas para el control de la infección y, por lo tanto, su uso prudente e inteligente debe ser la norma de oro que gobierne su aplicación clínica.…”