Effect of 2,3-dinitrilo-1,4-dithia-9,10-anthraquinone on Mycobacterium smegmatis.

2,3-Dinitrilo-1,4-dithia-9,10-anthraquinone (DDA) is an effective inhibitor of respiration of intact cells of Mycobacterium smegmatis in the presence of glucose, glycerol, pyruvate, acetate and other citric acid cycle intermediates or substrates associated with this cyclic (glutamate, asparagine). DDA inhibits the incorporation of both 14C-leucine and 14C-adenine into appropriate macromolecules of M. smegmatis (TCA-precipitable fractions), and causes a drop in the incorporated activity of U-14C-glycine or its degradation products in all the cell fractions studied (lipids, RNA, DNA, proteins). DDA suppresses the growth of M. smegmatis probably through an interference with the cell energy-carbon metabolism.