Abstract
Two inhibitors of the biosynthesis of aspergillin, the black spore pigment of Aspergillus niger, have been investigated. 2,4-Dithiopyrimidine exerted its inhibitory effect by intracellularly chelating cupric ion required for normal pigmentation. Dimethylsulfoxide prevented the synthesis of certain phenolic precursors of the native pigment. Partial purification and characterization of pigments from mature cultures revealed the presence of at least three components: (i) a high-molecular-weight (approximately 20,000) native pigment fraction in untreated mold cultures, (ii) a lower-molecular-weight (approximately 5,000) melanin pigment found in both types of inhibited cultures, and (iii) a low-molecular-weight (368) green pigment found only in the 2,4-dithiopyrimidine-inhibited cultures and proposed to be a pentacyclic quinonoid derivative. A pathway for aspergillin biosynthesis is suggested based on these results.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- BEHAL F. J., EAKIN R. E. Inhibition of mold development by purine and pyrimidine analogs. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1959 Jun;82(2):439–447. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(59)90140-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- BONNER T. G., DUNCANA Infra-red spectra of some melanins. Nature. 1962 Jun 16;194:1078–1079. doi: 10.1038/1941078a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SMITHIES O. An improved procedure for starch-gel electrophoresis: further variations in the serum proteins of normal individuals. Biochem J. 1959 Mar;71(3):585–587. doi: 10.1042/bj0710585. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]