VPT 311: General and Systemic Veterinary Pharmacology (2+1)

MICROBIAL SOURCE OF DRUGS

• Microbes provide an important source of drugs especially the antibiotics. All the antibiotics used against a variety of pathogens and also cancer are obtained from fungi, bacteria or actinomycetes. Some systemic drugs like ergot alkaloids (fungal source) are also obtained from microbes.
• Eg: Penicillin from Penicillium notatum
• Streptomycin, Tetracyclines, Chloramphenicol from Streptomyces sp.