The Anti-Biotin Effect of Desthiobiotin

Characterization of the Aspergillus nidulans biotin biosynthetic gene cluster and use of the bioDA gene as a new transformation marker

“…3). The absence of both bioF and bioDA in N. crassa is in agreement with reports that it can grow only on synthetic medium supplemented with either biotin or dethiobiotin but not with pimelic acid (Lilly and Leonian, 1944;Tatum, 1945). By contrast, in both Candida albicans and S. cerevisae, the bioA (BIO3) and bioD (BIO4) genes are separate but linked in a tail-to-tail configuration (Fig.…”

“…Most laboratory strains of S. cerevisiae are, however, biotin auxotrophs because they lack the syntenic BIO6 and BIO1 genes, the latter thought to be coding for a pimeloyl-CoA synthetase (Hall and Dietrich, 2007). Neurospora crassa is likewise biotin auxotrophic (Lilly and Leonian, 1944;Tatum, 1945), and this characteristic has been used as a basis for biotin assays relying on microbial growth (Hodson, 1945).…”

Nutritional regulation of antennal/leg homoeotic mutants inDrosophila melanogaster

“…Desthiobiotin (DTB) has been reported to be an effective biotin anti-metabolite (Lilly & Leonian, 1944). This anti-metabolite was added to the defined medium in the hope that it would compete with any biotin present through maternal carryover.…”

THE INFLUENCE OF pH AND CERTAIN GROWTH FACTORS ON MYCELIAL GROWTH AND PERITHECIAL FORMATION BY SORDARIA FIMICOLA

“…This fungus was used by the latter authors as a test organism for biotin assay. Lilly and Leonian (1944) found that desthiobiotin did not replace biotin for this organism. Margolin (1942) found this fungus to grow well when the carbon source was glucose, fructose, mannose, maltose, mannitol and dextrin; less well when lactose was used; and to make very limited growth when galactose, sucrose or glycerol was used.…”