Abstract:
Cultivation of a strain of the microorganism, Preussia sp., that has been deposited in the American Type Culture Collection as A.T.C.C. No. 20,923, yields a novel antibiotic substance, culpin, that has activity against a selected spectrum of microorganisms.

Description:
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Cultivation of a strain of the microorganisms, Preussia sp., that has been deposited in the American-Type Culture Collection as A.T.C.C. No. 20,923, yields a novel antibiotic substance, culpin, that has activity against a selected spectrum of microorganisms. Culpin, 2-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)-5-(3-methyl-3-buten-1-ynyl)-1,4-benzenediol, has the structure 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 is the 270 MHz proton NMR (C 6  D 6 ) spectrum of culpin. 
     FIG. 2 is the 67.5 MHz carbon-13 NMR (CDCl 3 ) spectrum of culpin. 
     FIG. 3 is the infrared spectrum of culpin in CHl 3 . 
     FIG. 4 is the ultraviolet spectrum of culpin (in methanol and methanol with 0.01 N HCl). 
     FIG. 5 is the ultraviolet spectrum of culpin (in methanol with 0.01 N NaOH). 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The Microorganism 
     The microorganism used for the production of culpin is a strain of Preussia, isolated from a soil sample obtained in Culpepr, Virginia. Isolation of the organism from the soil sample was accomplished by placing about0.5 to 1.0 g of soil in a tube with 10 ml of a sterile solution containing 0.1 percent gelatin and salts. After vigorous shaking, a small aliquot was placed onto the surface of a nutrient agar in a Petri dish. The agar had the following composition: 
     
         ______________________________________Beef extract     3.0 gPolypeptone peptone            5.0 gLactose         10.0 gAgar            10.0 gDistilled water to 1000 mlBromcresol purple            2.5 ml of a 1 mg/ml solutionPenicillin      10.0 ml of a 0.16% solutionChloramphenicol  8.0 ml of a 0.25% solutionStreptomycin sulfate            1.0 ml of a 1.5% solution______________________________________ 
    
     The bromcresol purple, penicillin, choramphenicol and streptomycin sulfate solutions were filter sterilized before being added to the basal medium that had been sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 20 minutes. 
     After inoculation, the plates were incubated for 4 days at 25° C. At that time, the colonies of Preussia sp. were picked and transferred to Potato-Dextrose Agar (Difco) medium for maintenance. A subculture of the organism can be obtained from the American-Type Culture Collection, Rockville, Md. Its accession number in this repository is A.T.C.C. No. 20,923. In addition to the specific organism described and characterized herein, it should be understood that mutants of the microorganism produced through the use of chemical or physical mutagens can also be cultivated to produce the subject compound. 
     The following characteristics serve to identify the culture as a species of Preussia. When grown on potato-dextrose agar or tomato juice agar, the culture readily produces sexual fruiting bodies bearing asci and ascospores. The organism is a saprophyte and a coprophilous Ascomycete. 
     Histological examination of thin sections shows the fruiting body to be a cavity within stromatic tissue. The asci are arranged in parallel fascicles arising from the base of the cavity. Paraphyses (long filiform cells) are interspersed between the asci. The asci are 61μ×16μ, 8-spored, broadly clavate, stipitate (with a basal stem) attached to a crozier, the site where meiotic division occurs. There is no pore at the apex of the ascus or any other means of dehiscence. At matuity, the ascus wall becomes evanescent, and the spores are liberated. The ascospores are 8.2μ×5.4μ, dark brown, opaque, thick-walled, and have an elongated germinal slit extending the full length of each cell. Some spores with transverse septa divide mitotically, doubling the number of ascospores per ascus. At maturity, ascospores within an ascus may number as many as 32. 
     The characteristics are in agreement with the generic description of Preussia given by Cain, R. F. in his article, &#34;Studies of Coprophilous Ascomycetes, VII, Preussia, Can. J. Bot., 39:1633-1666 (1961). 
     Production of the Antibiotic 
     Preussia sp., A.T.C.C. No. 20,923, produced culpin possessing activity against microorganisms. To form the antiobiotic according to the preferred fermentation method, Preussia sp., A.T.C.C. No. 20,923, was grown at or near room temperature (25° C.) under submerged, aerobic conditions in an aqueous nutrient medium containing an assimilable carbohydrate and nitrogen source. The fermentation was carried out until substantial activity was imparted to the medium, usually about 96-120 hours. 
     After completion of the fermentation, the mycelia were separated from the harvested broth by centrifugation. The mycelial cake was extracted with methanol and the extract was concentrated in vacuo to remove the organic solvent, leaving an aqueous suspension. After acidification of this aqueous layer to pH about 4, the acitivy was extracted into ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate extract was then concentrated to dryness in vacuo, and the resulting residue, dissolved in chloroform: methanol, 98:2 (v/v), was purified by column chromatography on silica gel. The developing solvent was the same as that used to dissolve the residue. Monitoring of the eluates was dones by thin layer chromatography on silica gel with chloroform:ethyl acetate, 3:7 v/v, as the developing solvent, with detection of the components by bioautography on Saccharomyces cerevisiae or by iodine vapor visualization. Fractions containing culpin were pooled and concentrated to dryness in vacuo. Further purification was effected by repeating the silica gel chromatography. The active fractions were again pooled and concentrated in vacuo to give an off-white solid. Final purity was achieved by recrystallization from benzene-heptane. Culpin was also recovered from the broth supernatant by extraction with ethyl acetate after acidification of the filtrate to a pH about 4. Purification of culpin was then carried out in the same manner as described for purification from the mycelial cake. 
     Culpin can be used to combat bacterial infections in mammalian species, such as domesticated animals (e.g., dogs, cats, cows, horses and the like) and humans. They can be administered using modes of administration which have been used in the past to deliver penicillins and cephalosporins to the site of the infection. Such methods of administration inlcude intravenous and intramuscular infections and as a suppository. For a human adult, daily dose of about 250 milligrams to about 2 grams are exemplary. Additionally, culpin is useful as a disinfectant and for suppressing the growth of susceptible microorganisms, e.g. on surgical instruments. Further information about the potency of the compound of this invention is set forth below under the heading &#34;Biological Activity&#34;. 
    
    
     The following examples further illustrate the preparation and utility of culpin. 
     EXAMPLE 1 
     Fermentation of Preussia sp., A.T.C.C. No. 20,923 
     Preussia sp., A.T.C.C. No. 20,923, was maintained on Potato-Dextrose Agar (Difco). These slants served as the source of inoculum for 100 ml of medium contained in 500 ml of Erlenmeyer flasks. The medium had the following composition: 
     
         ______________________________________Toasted nutrisoy flour                 15.0    gSoluble starch        15.0    gGlucose               50.0    gCoCl.sub.2.6H.sub.2 O 0.005   gCaCO.sub.3            10.0    gDistilled water       to 1000 ml______________________________________ 
    
     The medium was sterilized by autoclaving at 121° C. for 30 minutes. 
     After incoluation, the flasks were inoculated on a rotary shaker (300 rpm, 2-inch throw) at 25° C. for 120 hours. After the incubation period, 5% (v/v) transfers were made from the grown culture flasks to twenty, 500 ml Erlenmeyer flasks each containing 100 ml of the following medium: 
     
         ______________________________________Malt extract         10.0    gYeast extract        10.0    gPeptone              1.0     gDextrose             20.0    gDistilled water      to 1000 ml______________________________________ 
    
     The medium was adjusted to pH 7 before sterilization at 121° C. for 20 minutes. 
     The flasks were again incubated at 25° C. on a rotary shaker (300 rpm, 2-inch throw) for 120 hours, at which time the contents of the flasks were pooled. 
     EXAMPLE 2 
     Isolation of Culpin 
     The pooled broth was centrifuged to pellet the mycelium. The supernatant was worked up separately. The mycelium (360 g wet weight) was suspended in 1 liter of methanol and the whole stirred at room temperature for about one hour. The methanolic extract was freed from the mycelium by filtration and concentrated in vacuo to approximatley 100 ml. The pH of the concentrate was adjusted to pH 4.5 with 1N HCl. The acidified solution was then extracted twice with 150 ml portions of ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate layers were combined, washed once with water (50 ml), dried over MgSO 4  and concentrated in vacuo to yield 2.8 g of brown oil. The oil was dissolved in 10 ml of a solvent consisting of CHCl 3  : MeOH, 98:2, v/v, and filtered through 40 ml of silica gel. The activity was washed through with 175 ml of the same solvent and the filtrate concentrated in vacuo to give 0.78 g of brown oil. The oil was charged onto a silica gel column (Merck silica gel), 2.5×21 cm, packed in CHCl 3  :MeOH, 98:2, v/v, and the column was eluted with the same solvent, at a flow rate of 2 ml/minute. Fractions of 2.8 ml were collected for the first 45 tubes, after which fractions of 4.0 ml were collected. Each fraction was tested for bioactivity by a conventional paper-disc, agar diffusion assay v. Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Active fractions were also monitored by thin layer chromatography on silica gel (Merck) with CHCl 3  :EtOAc, 3:7, v/v, as the developing solvent. Visualization was by bioautography v. Saccharomyces cerevisiae or by exposure to iodine vapor. Active fractions containing culpin were combined and the pool concentrated in vacuo to yield 131.4 mg of a yellow solid. Further purification of this material was effected by chromatography on a silica gel (Merck) column (1.5×22 cm) with CHCl 3  :MeOH; 98:2, v/v. The column was packed in this same solvent. The pooled active fractions were concentrated in vacuo to give 92.8 mg of culpin as an off-white solid that was crystallized from benzene-heptane (m.p. 98-100° C.). 
     Characteristics of Culpin 
     Culpin is an off-white, neutral substance,  1  H NMR (270 MHz, C 6  D 6 ):δ6.85 (s, 1H), 6.57 (s, 1H), 5.39(br s, 1H, --OH), 5.27(m, 1H), 5.22(m, 1H), 5.02(m, 1H), 4.17(br s, 1H, --OH), 3.19(d, 2H), 1.71(t, 3H), 1.54(br s, 3H), 1.47(br s, 3H). (See FIG. 1). 
       13  C NMR (67.5 MHz, CDCl 3 ): δ150.5, 147.3, 134.9, 130.8, 126.2, 122.5(CH 2 ), 121.0(CH), 117.5(CH), 115.6(CH), 107.3, 97.0, 82.1, 29.5(CH 2 ), 25.7(CH 3 ), 23.4(CH 3 ), 17.8(CH 3 ). (See FIG. 2). 
     IR (CHCl 3 ) cm -1  : 3590, 3515, 2960, 2905, 2180(weak), 1600, 1485, 1435, 1370, 1320, 1165, 900, 875. (See FIG. 3). 
     UVCλmax(ε):In MeOH and MeOH with 0.01 N HCl: 210(30,000), 252(13,400), 265(16,500), 280(17,400) 326nm(11,800). (See FIG. 4) 
     In MeOH with 0.01 N NaOH (206(30,000), 278(13,200), 451nm(4,300). (See FIG. 5). 
     C, H and N Calculated: C, 79,31; H, 7.49; O, 13.20; 
     Found: C, 78,94, H, 7.79; O, 13.27. 
     Biological Activity 
     The following methodology was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (hereinafter referred to as MIC) of the compounds of this invention against bacteria. The test organisms were grown in 20 ml of Antibiotic Assay Broth (Difco) by inoculating the broth (in tubes) with a loopful of the organism from a BHI (Difco) agar slant. The inoculated tubes were incubated at 37° C. for 18 to 24 hours. These cultures were assumed to contain 10 9  colony forming units (CFU) per ml. The cultures were diluted 1:100 to give a final inoculum level of 10 7  CFU; dilutions were made with Yeast Beef Broth (Difco). The test compounds were dissolved in an appropriate diluent at a concentration of 1,000 μg/ml. Two-fold dilutions were made in Yeast Beef Broth (Difco), resulting in a range from 1000 μg/ml to 0.5 μg/ml. A 1.5 ml portion of each dilution was placed into individual petri dishes to which 13.5 ml of K-10 agar was added. The composition of K-10  agar is 
     
         ______________________________________Beef extract        1.5       gYeast extract       3.0       gPeptone             6.0       gDextrose            1.0       gAgar                15.0      gDistilled water     q.s. to 1000                         ml______________________________________ 
    
     The final drug concentration in the agar ranged from 100 μg/ml to 0.05 μg/ml. Organism growth control plates containing agar only were prepared and inoculated before and after the test plates. The organisms were applied to the agar surface of each plate with a Denly Multipoint Inoculator (which delivers approximately 0.001 ml of each inoculum) resulting in a final inoculum of 10 4  CFU on the agar surface. 
     The plates were incubated at 37° C. for 18 hours and the MICs determined. The MIC is the lowest concentration of compound inhibiting growth of the organism. 
     The methodology described above was modified in the assay for activity vs. yeasts and fungi. Fresh F-4 slants of the test organisms were obtained from frozen vials (-70° C.). All cultures were inoculated at 37° C. for 18 to 24 hours, at which time the average cell count was assumed to be 5 x 10 7  CFU per ml. These were diluted to 1:50 with fresh F-4 broth to give an inoculum level of 1×10  6  CFU per ml. The organisms were then dispersed into a sterile template (0.8 ml per well) and delivered onto the agar surface of each plate with a Denly Multipoint Inoculator, resulting in a final inoculum of 10 3  CFU on the agar surface. The composition of the F-4 broth is: 
     
         ______________________________________Tryptone            5         gMalt extract        3         gGlucose             10        gYeast extract       3         gDistilled water     q.s. to 1000                         ml______________________________________ 
    
     The medium was sterilized at 121° C. for 15 minutes at 15 psi. 
     F-4 agar has the same composition as the broth but with the addition of 15 g agar per liter. 
     The results of the agar dilution assays of culpin were: 
     
         ______________________________________                        MICOrganism           S.C. No.* (μg/ml)______________________________________Streptococcus agalactiae              9287      50Micrococcus luteus 2495      100Escherichia coli   10909     100Mycobacterium fortuitum              8571      50Candida tropicalis 2963      50Candida tropicalis 9861      50______________________________________ *SC No. is the number in the microorganism collection of E. R. Squibb &amp; Sons, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey.