Fatty acid and beta-amino acid syntheses in strains of Bacillus subtilis producing iturinic antibiotics.

Iturinic antibiotics, produced by different strains of Bacillus subtilis, contain long-chain beta-amino acids (beta-AA). The regulation of the synthesis of fatty acids (FA) and beta-AA was studied by modifying the culture medium. Addition of possible precursors, branched-chain alpha-amino acids, to the medium affected the FA and beta-AA compositions. According to this, the B. subtilis strains can be divided into two groups. The first contains the producers of mycosubtilin and bacillomycin F which synthesize a high level of iso C16 chains; the second contains the producers of bacillomycin D, bacillomycin L and iturin which synthesize a high level of n carbon chains. The incorporation of radioactive sodium acetate into FA and beta-AA showed rapid FA synthesis followed by a second synthetic step. Although the detailed mechanism has not yet been elucidated, this second step, corresponding to the beta-AA synthesis, seemed to be a key step in determining the alkyl chain of beta-AA.