LEGIONELLA SPECIFIC ANTIBIOTIC, A MICROORGANISM PRODUCING THE ANTIBIOTIC AND A PROCESS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME

Abstract: A novel Legionella specific antibiotic AL072, a novel Streptomyces sp. AL91 producing the same, and a process for producing the said antibiotic are disclosed. The structure of the said antibiotic compound is represented by formula (a).

Description: FOR THE PURPOSES OF INFORMATION ONLY Codes used to identify States party to the PCT on the front pages of pamphlets publishing intemational applications under the PCT. AT Austria GB United Kingdom MR Mauritania AU Australia GE Georgia MW Malawi BB Barbados GN Guinea NE Niger BE Belgium GR Greece NL Netherlands BF Burkina Faso HU Hungary NO Norway BG Bulgaria IE Ireland NZ New Zealand BJ Benin IT Italy PL Poland BR Brazil JP Japan PT Portugal BY Belarus KE Kenya RO Romania CA Canada KG Kyrgystan RU Russian Federation CF Central African Republic KP Democratic People's Republic SD Sudan CG Congo of Korea SE Sweden CH Switzerland KR Republic of Korea SI Slovenia CI Cβte d'lvoire KZ Kazakhstan SK Slovakia CM Cameroon LI Liechtenstein SN Senegal CN China LK Sπ Lanka TD Chad CS Czechoslovakia LU Luxembourg TG Togo CZ Czech Republic LV Latvia TJ Tajikistan DE Germany MC Monaco TT Trinidad and Tobago DK Denmark MD Republic of Moldova UA Ukraine ES Spain MG Madagascar S United States of America FI Finland ML Mali uz Uzbekistan FR France MN Mongolia VN Viet Nam GA Gabon LEGIONELLA S PECIFIC AN TIBIOTIC , A M IC ROORGAN ISM PRODUCIN G THE ANTIBIOTIC AND A PROCES S FOR PRODUCIN G TH E SAM E FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a novel Legionella specific antibiotic AL072, a novel Streptomyces sp. AL91 producing the same, and a process for producing the said antibiotic . BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Legionella pneumophila, which is the causal agent of Legionella infections , has been known to cause Legionnaires ' disease or Pontiac fever. Since the bacteria w as first isolated in Philadelpia, USA , it has been reported that many isolations of a species of Legionella were made from various patients and environments in all parts of the world, including the USA , and 10 or more species were identified. Legionella pneumophila is one of the pathogens capable of causing pneumonia and it is presumed that 5% of the occurences of pneumonia are due to Legionella pneum ophila. Legionella pneum ophila grow s in air-conditioning cooling towers, water service pipes, drain pipes , etc ., and infections are believed to occur in respiratory organs by inhalation of contaminated aerosols . In July , 1984, criticism was caused by the surprising fact that ill-defined symptom s of pneumonia which occurred in patients as w ell as medical team s at intensive care units of Koryo Hospital in Seoul appeared to be caused by Legionella species. According to a result of investigation completed in 1985 by the National Health Institute, at least 90% of air-conditioning cooling towers within Seoul were contaminated with Legionella species and 93% of the isolated Legionella w ere identified as Legionella pneum ophila. An additional investigation completed by the National Health Institute in major cities throughout the country , for example Seoul, Pu san, Daejeon, etc., between June and September, 1988 revealed that 83% of the isolated Legionella were classified to Legionella pneum ophila serogroup 1. M acrolide antibiotics, such as erythrom ycin , and quinolone antibiotic s, such as rifampin , are know n to be active against L egionella species and have been used for the treatment of the Legionella infections. However, these antibiotics have a wide spectrum of activity against a variety of microbes , in addition to the Legionella species. In this regard, an abuse of such antibiotics for extended periods m ay not only generate resistance to various microbes but also cause harmful problem s such as the collapse of the balance of microbes occurring in a hum an body . Additionally , there have been serious problem s in that chemical agents for disinfecting air-conditioning cooling towers , which are contamination sources of Legionella species , m ay result in the contamination of the environment and the corrosion of the air-conditioning device. Therefore, the development of novel Legionella specific antibiotics w hich are specifically active against only Legionella species , is needed and thereby m ay minimize the undesired problem s . We have intensively investigated soil microbes over several years for the purpose of developing such antibiotics . Eventually , w e succeeded in isolating a species of Streptomyces producing Legionella specific antibiotics and purifying a novel antibiotic specifically active - 2 against only Legionella species, which is designated Antibiotic AL072. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Cultivation of the novel microorganism Streptomyces sp. AL91 yields a novel antibiotic substance AL072 which is active exclusively against Legionella species, whose structure is represented as follows: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows the ultraviolet absorption spectrum of antibiotic substance AL072. FIG. 2 shows the infrared absorption spectrum of antibiotic substance AL072. FIG. 3 shows the mass spectrum of antibiotic substance AL072 measured by FAB/MS. FIG. 4 shows the 400 MHz proton unclear magnetic resonance spectrum of antibiotic substance AL072. FIG.5 shows the 100 MHz carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of antibiotic substance ΛL072. 3 - DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The M icroorganism The microorganism used for the production of Legionella specific antibiotic substance AL072 is Streptomyces sp. AL91. The microorganism w as deposited at the permanent collection of the Korean Culture Center of M icroorganism s , Seoul, Korea, on June 2, 1994 under the Budapest Treaty on the international recognition of the deposit of microorganism s for the purposes of patent procedure, and a subculture of the org anism can be obtained from the repository under the accession number KCCM 10055. In addition to the specific microorganism described and characterized herein, it should be understood that mutants of the microorganism (e.g ., mutants produced through the use of X-ray , ultraviolet radiation or nitrogen mustards) can also be cultivated to produce the antibiotic substane AL072. Isolation of Streptomyces sp. AL91 was accomplished by shaking l .Og of dried soil sample in 10ml of sterile distilled w ater, plating 0.1ml of dilutions of the soil suspension on a Humic acid- Vitamin agar supplemented w ith Cycloheximide (50/-g /ml) and Nalidixic acid (200 -g/ml), and cultivating the plate at the temperature of 28 T. for 14- 21 days . The medium w as sterilized at 121 T for 15 minutes before the antifungal agent Cycloheximide and the antibacterial agent Nalidixic acid, separately sterilized by filtration , w ere added. The composition of Humic acid-Vitamin agar is described in Table I. - 4 - Table I Humic acid l.Og (dissolved in 10ml of 0.2 N NaOH) Na 2 HPO 4 0.5g KC1 1.71g MgSO 4 - 7H 2 O 0.05g FeSO 4 • 7H 2 O O.Olg Thiamin-HCl 0.5g Vitamin B 2 0.5g Niacin 0.5g Pyridoxine-HCl 0.5g iiiυ jitυi U .« g, Pantothenic Acid Ca-salt 0.5g p-Aminobenzoic Acid 0.5g Biotin 0.25mg Cycloheximide 50mg Nalidixic acid 200g/mL Agar 20g Distilled water(pH 7.0) 1L Characteristics of Streptomyces sp. AL91 KCCM 10055 Morphology: Spores are formed by spiral, branched chains. The surface of spores is smooth. Biochemical characteristics: The ability to liquefy gelatin is negative and the ability to degrade starch is positive. Cultural characterises: Media Growth Color of Reverse Soluble aerial mycelium color pigments Trypton-yeast extract agar good brown brown brown Yeast extract- malt extract agar good white brown Oat meal extract agar good pale orange or white Inorganic salt- starch agar good white Glycerol- asparagine agar good dense yellow dense yellow Peptone-yeast extract-iron agar poor dense brown brown dense brown Tyrosine agar good white-brown dense brown Bennett' medium good white yellow-brown Carbon utilization: Positive: D-Glucose, sucrose, D-χylose, D-mannitol, D-fructose, rhamnose, raffinose, cellulose. Negative: L-Arabinose, I-inositol. - 6 - Susceptibility to antibiotics: antibiotics Concentrations Diameter of ring produced (-g/mL) by inhibition of growth (mm) Carbenicillin 100 Chloramphenicol 30 27.7 Neomycin 30 12.0 Nalidixic acid 30 Vancomycin 30 22.0 Clindamycin n Ampicillin 10 12.0 Kanamycin 30 17.0 Tetracycline 30 17.0 Cephalothin 30 24.0 Erythromycin 15 40.0 Rifampin 5 Gentamycin 10 10.0 Streptomycin 10 17.0 Production of the Antibiotic substance AL072 Streptomyces sp. AL91 KCCM 10055 was grown on a nutrient agar containing the components listed in Table II for 3 days. The cultures were inoculated into 200 mL of a liquid medium containing the components listed in Table III and cultivated at the temperature of 28"C under aerobic conditions for 3 days. Subsequently, the culture solution was inoculated into 6 L of a liquid medium containing the components listed in Table IV and cultivated at the temperature of 28T under aerobic conditions for 5 days. The antibiotic AL072 was - 7 isolated and purified from the final culture solution by the procedures described below. Table II Sucrose 20.0g Glucose lO.Og Corn steep liquor 5mg Yeast extracts 4.9g Soybean flour 20.0g CaCO 3 4.0g NaCl 2.0g K 2 HPO 4 0.05g Δ rr T* 15g Distilled water (pH 7.3) 1L Table III Glucose lg Soluble starch 24g Peptone 3g Malt extract 5g CaCO 4g Distilled water (pH 7.0) 1L Table IV Sucrose 20.0g Glucose lO.Og Corn steep liquor 5ml Yeast extract 4.9g Soybean flour 20.0g CaCO 3 4.0g NaCl 2.0g K 2 HPO 4 0.05g Distilled water (pH 7.3) 1L After cultivation was completed, 6L of the culture solution w as mixed with an equivalent amount of isopropyl alcohol by stirring . After standing over night, the mixture w as centrifuged and the resulting supernatant was taken . The supernatant was filtered through the passage of diatom aceous earth and the filtrate was then concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the isopropyl alcohol. The resulting concentrate was three times extracted with ethylacetate, which w as then removed under reduced pressure. The residue w as dissolved in 50% isopropyl alcohol and the resulting solution w as then concentrated under reduced pressure to remove the isopropyl alcohol. The residual aqueous solution was passed on a colum n filled with octadecyl silica gel and the passed solution w as discarded. Legionella specific antibiotics adhered to the ODS resin w ere eluted w ith 70% ethyl alcohol and the elutes were then concentrated under reduced pressure to dryness . After the dried concentrates were dissolved in 80% isopropyl alcohol, preparative high pressure liquid chromatography (206nm ) on sillica gel, eluting with acetonitrile-distilled w ater, 68 : 32 at the rate of 30mL/min, gave crude Legionella specific antibiotic substance AL072. Subsequently, the crude antibiotics w ere concentrated under reduced pressure todryness , the dried concentrates were dissolved in 50% isopropyl and the resulting solution was again concentrated under reduced pressure. The isopropyl alcohol w as removed and the residue w as three times extracted w ith chloroform . The chloroform w as removed and the residue w as dissolved in 80% isopropyl alcohol. High pressure liquid chrom atography , run in the same conditions as used in the first chromatography, gave pure antibiotic AL072. Phy sico-chemical properties of Antibiotic substance AL072 1. Thin-layer chromatography w as conducted on M erck & Company No.5642 HPTLC silica gel plate with the development of chloroform-methyl alcohol, 19:1, Antibiotic AL072 samples were spotted on the silia gel plate and developed in a sealed container. After development, an aqueous 10% sulfuric acid solution containing 5% ammonium molybdate and eerie ammonium sulfate was sprayed on the silica gel plate which was then heated to 100T. for 10 minutes to develop a colour. As a result of this, the Rf value of antibiotic AL072 was 0.58. 2. Antibiotic AL072 is soluble in alcohols such as methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, etc., and organic solvents such as ethyl acetate, chloroform, etc., whereas it is not or poorly soluble in water. 3. Antibiotic AL072 is very stable in aqueous solutions with pH values between pH 2 and pH 12. The activity of antibiotic AL072 is unchanged by heat of 95T. for 1 hour. 4. As a result of ultraviolet spectrometry, antibiotic AL072 in methyl alcohol is shown to have a maximum absorption in 242nm(Fig. 1). 5. The infrared absorption spectrum of antibiotic AL072 in potassium bromide using Bruker FT-IR spectrometer is shown in Fig.2. 6. The proton unclear magnetic resonance spectrum of antibiotic AL072 in CDC1 using Bruker ARX400 spectrometer is shown in Fig. 4. H-NMR δ (400MHz): 0.86(3H, m); 0.87(3H, m); 0.88(3H, m); 0.9K3H, m); 1.29(43H, m); 1.6K4H, m), 2.03(2H, m); 2.3K4H, m); 2.75(1H, m); 3.62(1H, dd, 12Hz, 6Hz); 3.72QH, dd, 4Hz, 12Hz); 3.96UH, m); 4.14(2H, m); 5.35(4H, m) ppm. 10 - 7. The carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of antibiotic AL072 in CDC1 2 using Bruker ARX400 spectrometer is shown in Fig. 5. C-NMR δ (100MHz); 12.01(q); 14.67(q); 19.85(q); 23.23(q); 23.28(q); 25.34(t); 25.36(t); 26.29(t); 27.78U); 27.84(t); 27.87(t); 28.10(t); 28.63(d); 29.72(t); 29.75(t); 29.82(t); 29.93(t); 30.02(t); 30.17(t); 30.26U); 30.29(t); 30.33(t); 30.36(t); 30.38(t); 30.62(t); 30.69(t); 32.20(t); 34.79(t); 34.81(t); 35.08(d); 37.33(t); 39.75(t); 63.90(t); 65.95(t); 70.96(d); 128.50(d); 128.70(d); 130.60(d); 130.70(d); 174.9(s); 181.00(s)ppm. Biological Activity of Antibiotic substance AL072 The effects of antibiotic substance AL072 obtained according to the above procedures on growth of various microbes were shown in Table V below. It is evident that while the antibiotic substance AL072 is powerfully active against Legionella pheumophila, it is not or only silightly active against the other microbes tested. 11 - Table V Microorganism Diameter of ring produced by inhibition of growth (mm) Legionella pneumophila ATCC 33152 108 Staphylococcus aureus 11 Streptococcus pyogenes Streptococcus 20 Streptococcus agalactiae Streptococcus equi 21 Streptococcus durans n -.1 Listeria monocytogenes 12 Corynebacterium diphtheriae 9 Bacillus subtilis 8 Bacillus megaterium 6 Escherichia coli 6 Citrobacter freundii Salmonella typhimurium 14 Shigella flexneri Klebsiella pneumoniae Klebsiella oxytoca Klebsiella aerogenes Enterobacter cloacae Enterobacter aerogenes Serratia marcescens Proteus mirabilis Proteus υulgaris 12 Proteus rettgeri Proteus morgani Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pseudomonas cepacia 12 - The susceptibility of Legionella sp. to antibiotic AL072 is tested by the well-known paper disc method. The preculture of Legionella sp. is prepared in accordance with a conventional manner by using a BCYE medium which consists of the following ingredients: Plate Yeast Extract ll-5g Activated Charcoal 1.5g ACES 6.0g α-Ketoglutaric Acid l.Og Bacto Agar 1 Distilled Water 1.0L PH 7.1-7.2(with 10M KOH) b. Enrichment L-Cystein-HCl 0.2g Ferric Pyrophosphate 0.125g/5ml of D.W. The BCYE medium is sterilized at 1 atmosphere, 121 "C for 15 minutes before it is cooled to 50-55T . The preculture of Legionella sp. is diluted with 0.9% saline (NaCl 9.0g + D.W. 1L) in a final concentration of 5 x 10 6 - 10 7 cfu/ml. The dilution is dispensed and poured by 10ml into each petri-dish to form test plates. Paper discs with a diameter of 6mm are infiltrated with 20 μl of antibiotic AL072 and then well dried. The dried disc is placed on the prepared plate, which is then cultivated in 37T, incubator for 24 hours. The size of ring occurring by inhibition of growth is measured with the use of a vernier caliper. The susceptibility test of Streptococcus sp. is conducted in accordance with similar procedures as above described, provided that the following medium are used: - 13 a. Mueller Hinton Medium(Difco) Beef infusion 300.0g Bacto Casamino Acids 17.5g Starch 1.5g Bacto Agar 17. Og b. Tryptic Soy Broth(Difco) Bacto Tryptone 17.0g pancreatic digest of soybean meal Bacto Soytone 3.0g papic digest of soybean meal Bacto Dextrose 2.5g Sodium Chloride 5.0g Dipotassium Phosphate 2.5g 10% horse serum The susceptibility of the other aerobic or anaerobic microbes is tested by similar procedures to Streptococcus sp., except that the horse serum is unnecessary. 14

Claims: What is claimed is 1. A compound of the formula 2. A microorganism Streptomyces sp. AL91 producing the Legionella specfic antibiotic compound according to claim 1. 3. A process for producing the Legionella specific antibiotic compound according to claim 1 which process comprises cultivating the microorganism Streptomyces sp. AL91, extracting the cultural broth with isopropyl alcohol and ethyl acetate, and purifying the extracts by chromatography on column filled with octadecyl silica gel and in turn high pressure liquid chromatography to obtain the said antibiotic compound. 15

Inventors: LEE CHUL HOON, LEE YEONG SEON, LEE YONG WOO, LIM YOONG HO, SUH JUNG WOO, YON CHANG SUEK, YOO ICK DONG, LEE, CHUL, HOON, LEE, YEONG, SEON, LEE, YONG, WOO, LIM, YOONG, HO, SUH, JUNG, WOO, YON, CHANG, SUEK, YOO, ICK, DONG
Applicants: CHEIL FOODS & CHEM, KOREA INST SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY, CHEIL FOODS & CHEMICALS, INC., KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Application year: 1995
Main classification: C07C69
IPC codes: A01N37, A61K31, A61P31, C07C69, C12N1, C12P7, C12R1