Hormaomycin, a New Peptide Lactone Antibiotic Effective in Inducing Cytodifferentiation and Antibiotic Biosynthesis in Some Streptomyces Species

Hormaomycin is a novel signal metabolite from Streptomyces griseoflavus W-384 with aerial mycelium-inducing activity. The compound has been identified as an unusual peptide lactone. Hormaomycin displays three biological activities: First, it initiates the development of aerial mycelia in some Streptomyces strains. The mechanism responsible for this activity is unknown. Secondly, hormaomycin is effective in stimulating antibiotic production in different Streptomyces species. Thus, it is possible to get overproduction of a variety of antibiotics by the use of hormaomycin in fermentation processes. Thirdly, it inhibits the growth of some bacteria. The sensitive bacteria are restricted to coryneform taxa such as Arthrobacter and Corynebacterium which are closely related to Streptomyces.