• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.262-267
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• 2007

To access the natural product antibiotics produced by uncultured microorganisms, six cosmid libraries of DNA extracted directly from soil samples (environmental DNA, eDNA) were constructed and screened for the production of antibacterial active molecules. Of the approximately 60,000 clones screened, one antibacterial clone (YS92B) was detected. Ethyl acetate extracts of clone YS92B showed antibacterial activity against various pathogenic bacteria (Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas syringae, Xanthomonas campestris pv. oryzae, Staphylococcus epidemis). Active constituents from cultures of YS92B were isolated and purified using a bioassay-guided fractionation against B. subtilis through a series of procedures (ethyl acetate extraction, Sephadex LH20 column chromatography, High Performance Liquid Chromatography). NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectral analysis of a major antibacterial active YS92B-VII indicated that it is a lauric acid linked to tyrosine. This report describes the characterization of antibacterially active long chain N-acyl derivatives of tyrosine that are produced by eDNA clones hosted in Escherichia coli from Korean soils.