Research Progress Streptomycin Has Fungicidal
By-Product Properties
A new antibiotic, actidione, discovered at the research laboratories of the U p john Co., may show the way to better control of plant diseases whose effects on ••agriculture have been as devastating as
Alma
Whijjen
insect pests. Prevention and cures within 48 hours of powdery mildew of bean plants, roses, and t o m a t o leaf have already been reported in preliminary experiments with this antibiotic derived from streptomycin cultures. Actidione, an antifungal antibiotic, was discovered b y Alma Whiff e n of t h e Upjohn research staff in her search for an antihiotic effective against fungi responsible for human disease. Working with t h e "beers" (inoculated media) from which the laboratories were extracting streptomycin, Dr. Whiff en noted t h a t a substance was present which inhibited the growth of Cryplococcus ncoformans, a fungus pathogenic for man. Under t h e screening program of the National Research Council, actidione had been distributed to laboratories testing new chemical compounds for their effects upon the growth of higher plants. When the drug was received by the Michigan State College Department of Horticulture, some bean plants in the greenhouse were severely infected with powdery mildew, a fungus infection of most plants which when uncontrolled stunts growth or kills. Drs. Felbcr and Ilamner, in charge of
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testing, decided to try thè riêw antifungal substance to note its effect upon t h e disease. They sprayed t h e plants with actidione and within 48 hours the powdery mildew had disappeared. Further work indicated that actidione, t h e first antibiotic shown to h a v e antifungal properties, could be sprayed in t h e remarkably low concentration of one to five parts per million to prevent or cure powdery mildew of bean plants, roses, and t o m a t o leaves. The v a s t economic potential of this entirely new type of fungicidal agent has stimulated investigation which is now under w a y on a large scale to define t h e antifungal range of actidione against many fungus diseases of plants a n d to delineate methods of use in control measures. T h e pioneering work a t t h e Michigan State College is currently being advanced by a research grant awarded by the Upjohn Co. It has been estimated t h a t present-day losses from fungus infections of plants equal those caused by insect pests. Actidione is regarded by investigators as t h e first indication t h a t an antibiotic substance derived from a fungus itself may b e used t o inhibit the growth of another fungus parasitic upon plants. Control of human fungus infections with actidione has n o t substantiated earlier hopes aroused by test tube experiments. Animals infected with c^ptococci were found to obtain n o protection w'ith t h e substance. Preliminary clinical trial in several h u m a n cases is now under way with little evidence of success.
Neiv Process to Increase Insulin Production A discovery which m a y prove of great value in the conservation of pancreas glands h a s been described b y Fr. Lindner of the Biochemical Laboratory of F a r b werke Ilochst, Germany, in the Chronicle of the World Health Organization. The present shortage of insulin—an important problem now engaging the attention of WHO—is due not so much t ô a shortage of pancreas as to t h e failure t o collect and treat all glands obtained from slaughterhouses, which a t present are t h e only sources of insulin. Unless t h e glands a r e processed without delay or refrigerated a t — 20° t o —30° C ; insulin content is rapidly lost. The process developed a t Farbwerke Hochst is based on the principle of converting t h e pancreas glands into a stable d r y product b y treating t h e m with a n anhydrous salt which b i n d s their water content a s water of crystallization. Anhydrous sodium sulfate is normally used for the purpose. The dry preparation m a y be maintained at t h e degree of acidity required, for instance p H 5, by t h e addition of sodium hydrosulfate, tartaric acid, or any other suitable agent. Attempts t o dehydrate glands had n o t heretofore
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Research Progress {Continued from page 3640) yielded good results, m a i n l y because it was n o t recognized that i t w a s essential t h a t t h e y should be disintegrated rapidly a n d thoroughly a n d t r e a t e d with a n anhydrous salt n o t after, b u t during, the disintegra tion. This process is most suitably perN O .
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formed in rapid cutting machines of the type found in most butchers' s h o p s . After cutting, t h e homogeneous mass, now rather compact, is placed on iron s h e e t s in a layer about 5 cm. thick, left for a b o u t one hour, t,hen p u t in cold storage. By the next morning, t h e cakes will have solidified into slabs which are so hard a n d compact t h a t t h e y can be piled up w i t h o u t any special care. T h e y m u s t be stored i n as dry a place a s possible at 5 ° t o 8 ° C. Under these conditions, even after six m o n t h s in storage, no loss of insulin occurs. Insulin is obtained from this preparation in t h e usual way, with the same yield usually obtained from frozen glands. Some difficulties in centrifuging were ex perienced a t t h e beginning, o w i n g to the salt c o n t e n t of the preparation. The im portance of this method is seen in the fact t h a t G e r m a n y has n o large stock y a r d s as does t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ; m o s t of the slaughtering is done in small p l a n t s .
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Detailed information o n t h e large scale production of oxygen i n G e r m a n y is in cluded in report PB-88840 (124 pages, S3.25). T h e description of the Kapitza process, of great interest to U. S . techni cians during t h e p a s t t w o years, was ob tained through an interview w i t h Dr. Linde, G e r m a n a u t h o r i t y on oxygen pro duction. D r . Linde questioned t h e theo retical efficiency of the process, and said t h a t little is known concerning t h e extent to which a c t u a l installations h a v e been made. T h e report p o i n t s o u t t h a t acety lene is sometimes present at t h e a i r intake in concentrations sufficient t o p r o d u c e a definite explosion h a z a r d during the oxy gen production cycle.
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