Fungi and Human Health: Drugs, Poisons, Pathogens, Allergies
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Topic: Drugs
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Fungi and Human Health: Drugs, Poisons, Pathogens, Allergies Fungi and Human Health: Drugs, Poisons, Pathogens, Allergies Antibiotics and Other Wonder Drugs Antibiotics are compounds that are toxic to microorganisms, bacteria in particular Penicillin The discovery of penicillin began with the accidental contamination of bacterial culture plates with a fungus, Penicillium notatum; Alexander Fleming noted that the Staphylococcus bacteria on the culture plate had been killed where the fungus was growing (see fig. 25.1) Eventually, penicillin was isolated and purified and shown to be effective at killing Gram- positive bacteria; the drug was mass produced during World War II using a much more productive species of Penicillium; specially selected high-yield strains are used today Drawbacks to penicillin are that it is not effective against many (e.g., Gram-negative) bacteria, overuse has led to the evolution of penicillin-resistant strains of bacteria, and some people are highly allergic to the drug Penicillin is produced by fermentation using culture medium inoculated with Penicillium chrysogenum spores; examples of other antibiotics made by chemically modifying the basic penicillin structure are amoxicillin, ampicillin, and methicillin Other antibiotics An entire group of antibiotics have been developed from bacteria classified as actinomycetes, particularly from species of the genus Streptomyces; these include erythromycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and nystatin Some broad-spectrum antibiotics (i.e., effective against both Gram-positive and Gram- negative bacteria) are the cephalosporins, which are manufactured from the natural product cephalosporin produced by a fungus, Cephalosporium acremonium Another antibiotic is griseofulvin from Penicillium griseofulvum; it is effective against many fungal diseases, especially dermatophtic mycoses that affect the skin, hair, or nails As drug resistance among disease-causing microorganisms has increased, the search for new ...
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