Answer to Question #10533 in Microbiology for Raquel Smedley

Question

list 2 medications that are prepared by microbial processes. description of how the med is prepared indicating the name of the medicine and the microbial process, substrate and microorganism involved.

Answer 1

1) Penicillin. Penicillin is a secondary metabolite of certain species of Penicillium and is produced when growth of the fungus is inhibited by stress. It is not produced during active growth. Production is also limited by feedback in the synthesis pathway of penicillin.
α-ketoglutarate + AcCoA → homocitrate → L-α-aminoadipic acid → L-lysine + β-lactam
The Penicillium cells are grown using a technique called fed-batch culture, in which the cells are constantly subject to stress, which is required for induction of penicillin production. The available carbon sources are also important: Glucose inhibits penicillin production, whereas lactose does not. The pH and the levels of nitrogen, lysine, phosphate, and oxygen of the batches must also be carefully controlled.
2) Doxorubicin (a drug used in cancer chemotherapy). Doxorubicin is a 14-hydroxylated version of daunorubicin, the immediate precursor of doxorubicin in its biosynthetic pathway. Daunorubicin is more abundantly found as a natural product because it is produced by a number of different wild type strains of Streptomyces. In contrast, only one known non-wild type species, Streptomyces peucetius subspecies cesius ATCC 27952, was initially found to be capable of producing the more widely used doxorubicin.