Abstract
PRODIGIOSIN, the bright red pigment produced by organisms of the genus Serratia, is among the more conspicuous pigments extant in the microbial world. The chemical nature of prodigiosin has been the subject of extensive study and was defined as a tri-pyrrylmethene by Wrede and Rothhaas in 19341. Subsequent work has demonstrated that the pigment is actually composed of a number of separable components rather than the single entity supposed by earlier workers1. Although prodigiosin has been studied predominantly in the genus Serratia, the possible presence of the pigment in an actinomycete has been reported2. In the course of our isolating vast quantities of actinomycetes from soils collected throughout the world, a small number of orange-red pigmented Streptomyces were observed. This communication is concerned with the identification of the pigment produced by these actinomycetes as identical to that produced by Serratia marcescens.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wrede, F., and Rothhaas, A., Hoppe-Seyl. Z., 226, 95 (1934).
Dietzel, E., Naturwiss., 35, 345 (1948).
Williams, R. P., Green, J. A., and Rappoport, D. A., J. Bact., 71, 115 (1956).
Rappoport, D. A., Calvert, C. R., Loeffler, R. K., and Gast, J. H., Anal. Chem., 27, 820 (1955).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
PERRY, J. Prodigiosin in an Actinomycete. Nature 191, 77–78 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/191077a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/191077a0
This article is cited by
-
Biocontrol capabilities of the genus Serratia
Phytochemistry Reviews (2020)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.