Volume 70, Number 6, 367-370, DOI: 10.1007/s10327-004-0134-7

Effects of light conditions on prodigiosin stability in the biocontrol bacterium Serratia marcescens strain B2

Nobutaka Someya, Masami Nakajima, Hiroshi Hamamoto, Isamu Yamaguchi and Katsumi Akutsu

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Abstract

Serratia marcescens strain B2 is a potential biocontrol agent that produces the antibiotic pigment prodigiosin. When this strain was incubated under white or blue light conditions (<100thinspµmol m–2thinsps–1), prodigiosin concentration in bacterial cells decreased, but growth did not. However, red and far-red light had no effect on prodigiosin concentration in bacterial cells. Purified prodigiosin was degraded under white or blue light conditions but was not degraded under red and far-red light. Because white and blue light appeared to affect the stability of prodigiosin itself, light conditions may affect the suppressive effects of the biocontrol agent S. marcescens strain B2.

Key words  Antibiotic - Biological control - Light conditions - Prodigiosin biosynthesis -  Serratia marcescens

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