Studies on hydroxyamino acids. III. Effect on growth of Escherichia coli 9637

Abstract

α-(Hydroxymethyl)serine, α-methylserine, α-ethylserine, β-hydroxyleucine, β-hydroxynorleucine, β-hydroxyaspartic acid, and β-( p-nitro)phenylserine were tested for biological activity in an Escherichia coli system. Of these, β-hydroxyaspartic acid and β-hydroxyleucine exhibited marked growth inhibitory activity. Certain naturally occurring amino acids, most of which were structurally similar to the inhibiting β-hydroxyamino acids, were shown to be capable of completely nullifying these inhibitory effects, while others, which were probably metabolically related to these amino acids, were capable of doing so to a lesser and varying extent. It appears that the inhibition is of the competitive type.