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Surface active properties of viscosin: a peptidolipid antibiotic

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Summary

A surfactant was purified from a Pseudomonas fluorescens strain isolated while screening for bacteria with hydrophobic surfaces. The surfactant was separated from the isolated extract by the use of thin-layer chromatography and detected as a ninhydrin-negative, 4,4′-tetramethyl-diamino-diphenylmethane-positive spot. HPLC of the purified substance resulted in one single peak. The amino acid composition was identical to viscosin, a peptidolipid. Fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry showed a mass peak at m/z 1126. Surface tension measurements revealed a value of 26.5 mN/m and a critical micelle concentration of 0.15 mg/ml.

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This paper is dedicated to Professor Hans Zähner on the occasion of his 60th birthday

Offprint requests to: K. Poralla

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Neu, T.R., Härtner, T. & Poralla, K. Surface active properties of viscosin: a peptidolipid antibiotic. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 32, 518–520 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00173720

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00173720

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