Antifungal antibiotics by actinomycetes formation of champamycin - B By Streptomyces Champavatii

Abstract

Presently, the chemotherapeutic treatment of the widely prevalent fungal infections in humans, animals and plants is far from satisfactory and is in marked contrast to that of bacterial diseases which are controlled successfully by application of antibiotics. At the time the studies described in this thesis were undertaken, even the limited clinical use of griseofulvin, nystatin and amphotericin?B for fungal infections was unknown. Since Streptomyces as a group are known to produce useful antibiotics of diverse types, exploration of these organisms occurring in South Indian soils for this purpose seemed desirable. A résumé of the morphological, biochemical and fermentative characteristics of actinomycetes along with the difficulties encountered in the taxonomic classification of the members of the genus Streptomyces has been presented.