There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Since its introduction more than 20 years ago, ivermectin has proved to be one of the most successful therapeutic drugs in veterinary medicine, as well as the basis of one of the most successful public-health programmes of the past century. The drug arose from a unique international collaboration between the public and private sectors. The development process also incorporated the world's first and largest drug-donation programme and involved a unique association between governments, non-governmental organizations and industry. The drug is now being used, free of charge, in two global disease-elimination programmes that are benefiting millions of the world's poorest people.

Related collections

Most cited references 35

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Complete genome sequence and comparative analysis of the industrial microorganism Streptomyces avermitilis.

Haruo Ikeda, Jun Ishikawa, Akiharu Hanamoto … (2003)

Species of the genus Streptomyces are of major pharmaceutical interest because they synthesize a variety of bioactive secondary metabolites. We have determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the linear chromosome of Streptomyces avermitilis. S. avermitilis produces avermectins, a group of antiparasitic agents used in human and veterinary medicine. The genome contains 9,025,608 bases (average GC content, 70.7%) and encodes at least 7,574 potential open reading frames (ORFs). Thirty-five percent of the ORFs (2,664) constitute 721 paralogous families. Thirty gene clusters related to secondary metabolite biosynthesis were identified, corresponding to 6.6% of the genome. Comparison with Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) revealed that an internal 6.5-Mb region in the S. avermitilis genome was highly conserved with respect to gene order and content, and contained all known essential genes but showed perfectly asymmetric structure at the oriC center. In contrast, the terminal regions were not conserved and preferentially contained nonessential genes.

0 comments Cited 250 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Genome sequence of an industrial microorganism Streptomyces avermitilis: deducing the ability of producing secondary metabolites.

S Omura, H. Ikeda, J. Ishikawa … (2001)

Streptomyces avermitilis is a soil bacterium that carries out not only a complex morphological differentiation but also the production of secondary metabolites, one of which, avermectin, is commercially important in human and veterinary medicine. The major interest in this genus Streptomyces is the diversity of its production of secondary metabolites as an industrial microorganism. A major factor in its prominence as a producer of the variety of secondary metabolites is its possession of several metabolic pathways for biosynthesis. Here we report sequence analysis of S. avermitilis, covering 99% of its genome. At least 8.7 million base pairs exist in the linear chromosome; this is the largest bacterial genome sequence, and it provides insights into the intrinsic diversity of the production of the secondary metabolites of Streptomyces. Twenty-five kinds of secondary metabolite gene clusters were found in the genome of S. avermitilis. Four of them are concerned with the biosyntheses of melanin pigments, in which two clusters encode tyrosinase and its cofactor, another two encode an ochronotic pigment derived from homogentiginic acid, and another polyketide-derived melanin. The gene clusters for carotenoid and siderophore biosyntheses are composed of seven and five genes, respectively. There are eight kinds of gene clusters for type-I polyketide compound biosyntheses, and two clusters are involved in the biosyntheses of type-II polyketide-derived compounds. Furthermore, a polyketide synthase that resembles phloroglucinol synthase was detected. Eight clusters are involved in the biosyntheses of peptide compounds that are synthesized by nonribosomal peptide synthetases. These secondary metabolite clusters are widely located in the genome but half of them are near both ends of the genome. The total length of these clusters occupies about 6.4% of the genome.

0 comments Cited 165 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Avermectins, new family of potent anthelmintic agents: producing organism and fermentation.

R. W. Burg, B. M. Miller, E. E. Baker … (1979)

The avermectins are a complex of chemically related agents which exhibit extraordinarily potent anthelmintic activity. They are produced by a novel species of actinomycete, NRRL 8165, which we have named Streptomyces avermitilis. The morphological and cultural characteristics which differentiate the producing organism from other species are described. The avermectins have been identified as a series of macrocyclic lactone derivatives which, in contrast to the macrolide or polyene antibiotics, lack significant antibacterial or antifungal activity. The avermectin complex is fully active against the gastrointestinal nematode Nematospiroides dubius when fed to infected mice for 6 days at 0.0002% of the diet. Fermentation development, including medium modification and strain selection, resulted in increasing the broth yields from 9 to 500 mug/ml.

0 comments Cited 163 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

PubMed ID:: 15550944

DOI:: 10.1038/nrmicro1048

ScienceOpen disciplines: Chemistry

Keywords: Africa,epidemiology,Americas,Animals,Anthelmintics,chemistry,economics,metabolism,therapeutic use,Community Networks,Costs and Cost Analysis,Elephantiasis, Filarial,drug therapy,Humans,Ivermectin,Life Cycle Stages,Onchocerca volvulus,physiology,Onchocerciasis,veterinary,Streptomyces

The life and times of ivermectin - a success story.

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

EPA CompTox Chemicals Dashboard

Most cited references 35

Complete genome sequence and comparative analysis of the industrial microorganism Streptomyces avermitilis.

Genome sequence of an industrial microorganism Streptomyces avermitilis: deducing the ability of producing secondary metabolites.

Avermectins, new family of potent anthelmintic agents: producing organism and fermentation.

Author and article information

Journal

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 175

Cited by 72

Most referenced authors 428