Phosalacine is a natural antimicrobial and herbicidal compound that has been isolated from the

Actinobacteria The Actinomycetota (or Actinobacteria) are a diverse phylum of Gram-positive bacteria with high GC content. They can be terrestrial or aquatic. They are of great importance to land flora because of their contributions to soil systems. In soil t ...

'' Kitasatosporia phosalacinea''. It is a

tripeptide A tripeptide is a peptide derived from three amino acids joined by two or sometimes three peptide bonds. As for proteins, the function of peptides is determined by the constituent amino acids and their sequence. In terms of scientific investigati ...

consisting of the amino acids

glufosinate Glufosinate (also known as phosphinothricin and often sold as an ammonium salt) is a naturally occurring broad-spectrum herbicide produced by several species of ''Streptomyces'' soil bacteria. Glufosinate is a non-selective, contact herbicide, w ...

(phosphinothricin),

alanine Alanine (symbol Ala or A), or α-alanine, is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an amine group and a carboxylic acid group, both attached to the central carbon atom which also carries a methyl group sid ...

, and

leucine Leucine (symbol Leu or L) is an essential amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Leucine is an α-amino acid, meaning it contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated −NH3+ form under biological conditions), an α-Car ...

. It is similar in structure to bialaphos, differing by replacement of the terminal alanine with leucine. Phosalacine has antimicrobial activity against

Gram-positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. The Gram stain is ...

and

Gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that, unlike gram-positive bacteria, do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. Their defining characteristic is that their cell envelope consists ...

bacteria and some fungi. It also shows herbicidal activity against alfalfa. It is believed that the herbicidal activity is due to the slow release of glufosinate, which is a commercially-used broad spectrum herbicide.

References

{{reflist Herbicides Tripeptides Phosphinic acids