Rhodotorula pilimanae CBS 4479, when grown at pH 2.8 in iron-limited media, produced rhodotorulic acid and a second hydroxamic acid which was characterized as 1hydroxy-3(S)-amino-2-piperidone (HAP). The latter, which was not converted to rhodotorulic acid, was shown to arise from cyclization of -yV-hydroxyornithine. The addition of iron to growing cultures effected a parallel depression of have previously reviewed the features of rhodotorulic acid which render it the substance of choice for biosynthetic studies in the siderochrome (iron transport compound) series (Akers et a!., 1972). Rhodotorulic acid was thought to arise from --hydroxyornithine (OHOrn)1; however, due to the instability of OHOrn at pH values above the hydroxylamine pKlx of 5.5 we were reluctant to examine this compound as a precursor. In an attempt to overcome this problem we adapted Rhodotorula pilimanae to grow at pH 2.8. A hydroxamic acid produced at this pH differed from rhodotorulic acid in that it was retained by a cation exchange resin.This paper deals with the purification, characterization by comparison with synthetic material, and origin of 1-hydroxy-3(S)-amino-2-piperidone (HAP). The results indicate that at low pH OHOrn, a direct precursor of rhodotorulic acid, is diverted into the medium where it is cyclized nonenzymatically to HAP.
Materials and MethodsR. pilimanae cultures adapted to low pH were maintained as liquid cultures on low pH ASKP medium (see below). Crystalline rhodotorulic acid was obtained from low-iron cultures of R. pilimanae (Atkin and Neilands, 1968). OHOrn was from HC1 hydrolysates of rhodotorulic acid (Atkin and Neilands, 1968).5-lV-Acetyl-5-/V-hydroxyornithine (AcOHOrn) was synthesized from OHOrn (Akers et al., 1972).Medium. R. pilimanae was cultured for 10-14 days at 30°o n a rotary shaker in the ASKP medium previously described (Akers et a!., 1972). The pH was adjusted to 2.8 • 0.1 using concentrated H3P04. Iron (as ferric ammonium sulfate)was not added unless specifically stated.Hydroxamates were determined spectrophotometrically (Atkin and Neilands, 1968). A tetrazolium spray was used for the detection of hydroxylamines (Snow, 1954