Aureomycin Originated Here

Aureomycin Originated Here. . The bacterium, streptomyces aureofaciens strain A377, was isolated by Dr. B.W. Duggar from soil collected in 1945 from Sanborn Field, Plot 23, planted to continuous Timothy Grass without soil amendment since establishment in 1888. , The sample was one of a dozen sent to Lederle Labratories in Pearl River, New York, by Dr. W.A. Albrecht, University of Missouri soil microbiologist. The bacterium cultured in 1948 from Plot 23 was made the "type species" based on the original description and became the ancestral parent of all improved strains used by the American Cynamid Company in production of aureomycin. For decades aureomycin, the first of the tetracycline class of antibiotics, was widely used globally for the treatment of many human diseases and for therapeutic use in livestock production. , A reference soil sample from plot 23 was displayed in the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., as part of an exhibit "Antibiotics: the Wonder Drugs" on the 10th anniversary of the announcement of aureomycin's discovery, October 15, 1958.