Growth inhibiting compounds

Screening of microbial products has led to the discovery of a number of growth-inhibiting compounds that have proved to be clinically useful in cancer chemotherapy. Many of these antibiotics bind to DNA through intercalation between specific bases and block the synthesis of RNA, DNA, or both cause DNA strand scission and interfere with cell replication. All of the anticancer antibiotics now being used in clinical practice are products of various strains of the soil microbe Streptomyces. These include the anthracyclines, bleomycin, and mitomycin. 

While protein is the major cellular component in exponentially growing cells, carbohydrate is the most prominent substance among the extracellular products, with protein and amino acids probably in second piace. Other important substances to mention are organic acids, sugar alcohols, lipids and fatty acids, vitamins and growth inhibiting compounds (toxins). The list could have been made much longer. 

Figure 2. Antifeedant and growth-inhibiting compounds for Spodoptera litura, isolated from Japanese plants.

Bioethanol is produced from the hydrolysate of lignocellulosic substrate after pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. With high conversion of carbohydrates, hexose and pentose can be fermented by commercial or engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae or other microorganisms. Depending on the feedstock and pretreatment processes, various types of growth-inhibiting compounds have been discovered to hinder the performance of fermentation. For example, HMF and furfural formed from dehydration of... 

Maas FM, De Kok FJ, Kuiper PJC. 1985. The effect of hydrogen sulfide fumigation on various spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) cultivars Relation between growth inhibition and accumulation of sulphur compounds in the plant. Journal of Plant Physiology 119 219-226. 

Nitroheteroarenes continue to attract research activity. A series of 5-nitro-2-furyl derivatives were evaluated for in vivo efficacy against T cruzi [64] and an improved toxicity profile. Compound 65 showed a good efficacy profile in vivo and better acute toxicity profile when compared to nifurti-mox. A series of 5-nitroindazoles, represented by 66 (IC50 = 7.4 iM), were reported as having activity similar to nifurtimox (IC50 = 3.4 iM) in a growth inhibition assay [65]. 

Concern for the continued widespread use of chlordane centers on its ability to cause liver cancer in domestic mice. Other adverse effects in mammals, such as elevated tissue residues and growth inhibition, were frequently associated with diets containing between 0.76 and 5.0 mg chlordane/kg feed. Metabolism of technical chlordane by mammals results primarily in oxychlordane, a metabolite that is about 20 times more toxic than the parent compound and the most persistent metabolite stored in adipose tissues. Chlordane interactions with other agricultural chemicals produced significant biological effects in warm-blooded organisms, indicating a need for additional research on this subject. 

Algal chemical defenses that inhibit the settlement and attachment of pathogens or biofoulers represent the first line of defense against microbial challenge. Unlike compounds that function through growth inhibition or lethality, most settlement and... 

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