Lincomycin at Subinhibitory Concentrations Potentiates Secondary Metabolite Production by Streptomyces spp.

ABSTRACT: Antibiotics have either bactericidal or bacteriostatic activity. However, they also induce considerable gene expression in bacteria when used at subinhibitory concentrations (below the MIC). We found that lincomycin, which inhibits protein synthesis by binding to the ribosomes of Gram-positive bacteria, was effective for inducing the expression of genes involved in secondary metabolism in Streptomyces strains when added to medium at subinhibitory concentrations. In Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), lincomycin at 1/10 of its MIC markedly increased the expression of the pathway-specific regulatory gene actII-ORF4 in the blue-pigmented antibiotic actinorhodin (ACT) biosynthetic gene cluster, which resulted in ACT overproduction. Intriguingly, S. lividans 1326 grown in the presence of lincomycin

SUBMITTER: Imai Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4421039 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature