Tennecetin: A New Antifungal Antibiotic

Author

James Burns, University of Tennessee - Knoxville

Date of Award

8-1959

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Life Sciences

Major Professor

Frank Holtman

Committee Members

Samuel Tipton, Orvin Mundt, Howard E. Reed, & Raymond W. Beck

Abstract

The present investigation is an outgrowth of some speculations we have entertained (and vice versa) for a number of years. These speculations revolved around the general idea of antibiotics -- their discovery, production, uses, and significance.

Despite a keen fascination with the matter, our attempts to build a philosophy of antibiosis suffered from an awkward ignorance of the subject itself. There seemed to be no easy way to remedy this situation. In a field dominated by commercial interests, with a literature too recent and scattered to have been sifted and sorted, the traditional academic tools of learning did not appear, in themselves, to be entirely adequate. What was wanted, it seemed, was a maiden voyage on uncharted seas. If such a voyage did not turn out to be one of discovery, it would at least be one of exploration. In less romantic terms, this "voyage" must be an actual experience with a single antibiotic, preferably one not previously studied, and the experience must extend from the very beginning -- i.e., the discovery of the antibiotic itself -- to whatever fulfill­ment of understanding might be possible within the limits of our abilities and resources. Accordingly, some organisms were isolated from nature and studied for their ability to produce an anti­biotic substance. Happily, one of the first organisms so studied appeared unusual and interesting from two stand­ points: It appeared to be a species of Streptomyces with which we were entirely unfamiliar, and it produced an antibiotic active against yeasts and molds. When we became convinced that we were dealing with an antibiotic not previously described, and with an organism which could not be identified as a previously listed species, we gave the name "tennecetin" to the former and Streptomyces chattanoogens is to the latter. What is offered here, then, is an account of this first adventure into the field of antibiotic discovery and development. If at times it appears the author is long on adventure and short on scholarship, we submit that it could not have been the other way around.

Recommended Citation

Burns, James, "Tennecetin: A New Antifungal Antibiotic. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1959.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/2958