Antitumor antibiotic bioactivation, biotransformation and derivatization by microbial systems.

Microbial transformations refer to reactions catalyzed by microbial enzymes, especially when specific and useful metabolites accumulate in fermentation media. These transformations have tremendous potential for use in the development of new antitumor drugs and these can also be used as models of mammalial metabolism. Microbial transformation experiments with antibiotics such as bleomycin, anthracyclines and with a variety of plant products are described.