Bacitracin A is a polypeptide antibiotic that has been found in B. licheniformis and the main active component of the bacitracin family of polypeptide antibiotics.1 It is active against M. lysodeikticus when used at a concentration of 0.1 µM and forms a complex with divalent cations and the cell membrane component C55-isoprenyl pyrophosphate.2 Bacitracin A is also active against the plant pathogenic bacteria P. ananatis with a median effective concentration (MEC) of 9.1 µg/ml.3 It induces cell wall damage and cell leakage in P. ananatis.
1.Newton, G.G.F., and Abraham, E.P.Observations on the nature of bacitracin ABiochem. J.53(4)604-613(1953) 2.Storm, D.R., and Strominger, J.L.Complex formation between bacitracin peptides and isoprenyl pyrophosphates. The specificity of lipid-peptide interactionsJ. Biol. Chem.248(11)3940-3945(1973) 3.Jin, P., Tan, Z., Wang, H., et al.Antimicrobial effect of Bacillus licheniformis HN-5 bacitracin A on rice pathogen Pantoea ananatisBioControl66249-257(2020)