''Streptomyces clavuligerus'' is a species of

Gram-positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. Gram-positive bacte ...

bacterium Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

notable for producing

clavulanic acid Clavulanic acid is a β-lactam drug that functions as a mechanism-based β-lactamase inhibitor. While not effective by itself as an antibiotic, when combined with penicillin-group antibiotics, it can overcome antibiotic resistance in bacteria t ...

. ''S. clavuligerus'' ATCC 27064 (NRRL 3585, DSM 738) was first described by Higgens and Kastner (1971), who isolated it from a South American soil sample. Its name refers to the shape of its spore-bearing

hyphal A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one or ...

branches: from the Latin, clavula, meaning ''little club'', and igerus, meaning ''bearing''. ''S. clavuligerus'' spores are gray to grayish-green. ''S. clavuligerus'' produces over 20

secondary metabolites Secondary metabolites, also called specialised metabolites, toxins, secondary products, or natural products, are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved in the nor ...

, including many

beta-lactam A beta-lactam (β-lactam) ring is a four-membered lactam. A ''lactam'' is a cyclic amide, and ''beta''-lactams are named so because the nitrogen atom is attached to the β-carbon atom relative to the carbonyl. The simplest β-lactam possible is ...

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention o ...

such as

cephamycin C Cephamycins are a group of β-lactam antibiotics. They are very similar to cephalosporins, and the cephamycins are sometimes classified as cephalosporins. Like cephalosporins, cephamycins are based upon the cephem nucleus. Unlike most cephalospor ...

, deacetoxycephalosporin C,

penicillin N Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...

(an intermediate in cephamycin C pathway), and at least four other clavams. Non-β-lactam antibiotics include holomycin and an antibiotic complex, MM 19290, related to

tunicamycin Tunicamycin is a mixture of homologous nucleoside antibiotics that inhibits the UDP-HexNAc: polyprenol-P HexNAc-1-P family of enzymes. In eukaryotes, this includes the enzyme GlcNAc phosphotransferase (GPT), which catalyzes the transfer of N- ...

; a beta-lactamase-inhibitory protein (BLIP) has also been described. For ''S. clavuligerus'' ATCC 27064, a teleocidin biosynthetic gene cluster was identified in early isolates held at ATCC, apparently missing from later isolates used for industrial production of clavulanic acid. Another important characteristic of ''S. clavuligerus'' is that it is not able to use

glucose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...

as a carbon source because it lacks a glucose transport system. It also possesses all the enzymes of the

urea cycle The urea cycle (also known as the ornithine cycle) is a cycle of biochemical reactions that produces urea (NH2)2CO from ammonia (NH3). Animals that use this cycle, mainly amphibians and mammals, are called ureotelic. The urea cycle converts highl ...

, which is unusual for a

prokaryote A prokaryote () is a single-celled organism that lacks a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. The word ''prokaryote'' comes from the Greek πρό (, 'before') and κάρυον (, 'nut' or 'kernel').Campbell, N. "Biology:Concepts & Connec ...

, although it is not clear whether the

is functional.

References

External links

*
Type strain of ''Streptomyces clavuligerus'' at Bac''Dive'' - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase
* Bacteria described in 1971 clavuligerus {{Streptomyces-stub

References

Further reading

External links