Metabolic products of microorganisms 142. A new antibiotic derinamycin, inhibitor of DNA and RNA synthesis.

Derinamycin was isolated from the myecelium of Streptomyces venezuelae Tü 1102 and its molecular formula was tentatively assigned as C51H93NO23. The antibiotic inhibits the growth of fungi, gram-positive bacteria and certain gram-negative bacteria but is less acitve against yeasts. A study of derinamycin action on the macromolecular synthesis of intact Bacillus subtilis revealed that the antibiotic suppressed DNA and RNA syntheses but that protein synthesis was less affected. Derinamycin exerted no selective inhibition between DNA and RNA syntheses in the double-isotope experiment used to assess the relative effects of the antibiotic.