The Chemistry of Polymyxin A

Unimolecular films of polymyxins A, B, D and E at the air-water interface

“…Chemical analysis of the hydrolysates of the antibiotics showed that a fatty acid, identified by Wilkinson (1949) as D-6-methyloctan-1-oic acid, was present in all the polymyxins. Amino-acid analyses demonstrated that polymyxin A contained L-threonine, L-xy-diaminobutyric acid and D-leucine (Catch, Jones & Wilkinson, 1948); polymyxin B contained the above amino-acids with Dphenylalanine in addition (Catch, Jones & Wilkinson 1949); polymyxin C differed from polymyxin B in not containing D-leucine; polymyxin D possessed the same amino-acids as polymyxin A but in addition D-serine (Jones, 1948); and polymyxin E had the same amino-acid composition as polymyxin A, but the intact antibiotics could be readily differentiated by paper chromatography (Jones, 1948).…”

The Draft Genome Sequence of Paenibacillus polymyxa Strain CCI-25 Encompasses High Potential for Secondary Metabolite Production

“…Plant-associated Paenibacillus polymyxa strains are well noted for their production of a wide range of secondary metabolites ( 1 – 3 ), predominantly lipopeptides and polyketides involved in plant growth promotion and biocontrol of fungi ( 4 – 6 ). Here, we highlight the secondary metabolite capacity of P. polymyxa strain CCI-25 isolated from vermicompost.…”

New Amino Acids of Plants

“…Another four-carbon compound of interest is a, y-diaminobutyric acid (XXXV). This basic amino acid was first shown to be a constituent of the polymyxins, a group of peptide antibiotics produced by strains of Bacillus polymyxa (Catch, Jones & Wilkinson, 1949). Subsequently it has been shown to be present in a number of similar antibiotics.…”