Assay of the Rates of Secretion of Antibiotic in Different Regions of a Growing Mould Colony

Abstract

IN research on antibiotics, one field is conspicuously blank: that of how a species produces a certain antibiotic. There is no definite answer for any antibiotic to even such elementary questions as: Is the metabolism of the antibiotic linked up with cell multiplication and growth? Is the antibiotic an intra- or extra-cellular metabolite? Is it secreted from the same cells that produce it, or is it secreted from a different part of the mycelium? A technique which may help in solving parts of these problems has now been worked out.