STUDIES ON THE ISOLATION AND NATURE OF THE 'TERREGENS FACTOR'

Abstract

A procedure for production and concn. of the "terregens factor" (TF), a bacterial growth promoting substance synthesized by Arthrobacter pascens and essential for growth of .A. terregens, is descr. From culture filtrates of A. pascens cultivated in a medium of organic salts and sucrose, concentrates of TF may be obtained. These concentrates are active at 0.001 [mu]g./ml., heat stable and contain 12.7% N. Acid hydrolysis yields a number of amino acids, including glutamic acid, glycine, alpha-alanine, valine, leucine, proline, lysine, and arginine, as well as some unidentified compounds; TF does not appear to be a low molecular wt. straight chainpeptide. Although TF contains no Fe, it combines readily with ferrous or ferric Fe to form reddish-brown complexes with this metal. Activity for A. terregens is shown by certain Fe containing complexes as hemin, coprogen, and ferrichrome. None is shown by cytochrome or pulcherrimin; aspergillic acid, structurally related to the latter, possesses some growth promoting activity for the test organism.