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Rapamycin (AY-22,989), a new antifungal antibiotic. I. Taxonomy of the producing streptomycete and isolation of the active principle

Vezina C, Kudelski A, Sehgal SN · 1975 · Journal of Antibiotics · Atlas ID VEZ1975

What this study shows

The original isolation of rapamycin from a soil bacterium found on Easter Island, discovered first as an antifungal compound decades before its mTOR-inhibiting mechanism was known.

Abstract

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A streptomycete was isolated from an Easter Island soil sample and found to inhibit Candida albicans, Microsporum gypseum and Trichophyton granulosum. The antibiotic-producing microorganism was characterized and identified as Streptomyces hygroscopicus. The antifungal principle was extracted with organic solvent from the mycelium, isolated in crystalline form and named rapamycin. Rapamycin is mainly active against Candida albicans; minimum inhibitory concentration against ten strains ranged from 0.02 to 0.2 mug/ml.

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At a glance

Evidence type M Molecular — cells, biochemistry, structure Marked M because it is molecular or in-vitro work (model: Streptomyces hygroscopicus (soil bacterium)) rather than a whole-organism health-outcome study. That is often exactly where causal biology gets established -- the code says which system the finding was shown in, and nothing about how good the work is.
Study type5 - Mechanistic / In Vitro
Model systemStreptomyces hygroscopicus (soil bacterium)
JournalJournal of Antibiotics
Year1975
Peer reviewedYes
Record last updated2026-08-22
SourceDOI 10.7164/antibiotics.28.721 · PMID 1102508

Extracted findings

InterventionRapamycin (natural product isolation)
TargetAntifungal principle (later FKBP/TOR)
ModelStreptomyces hygroscopicus (soil bacterium)
EffectOriginal isolation and characterization of rapamycin as an antifungal antibiotic from Easter Island soil

In the Atlas

Related topics

Rapamycin

Answers that reference this study

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Cite this paper

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Vezina, C., Kudelski, A., & Sehgal, S. N. (1975). Rapamycin (AY-22,989), a new antifungal antibiotic. I. Taxonomy of the producing streptomycete and isolation of the active principle. Journal of Antibiotics. https://doi.org/10.7164/antibiotics.28.721

@article{VEZ1975,
  author       = {Vezina, C. and Kudelski, A. and Sehgal, S. N.},
  title        = {{Rapamycin (AY-22,989), a new antifungal antibiotic. I. Taxonomy of the producing streptomycete and isolation of the active principle}},
  journal      = {Journal of Antibiotics},
  year         = {1975},
  doi          = {10.7164/antibiotics.28.721},
  note         = {PMID: 1102508},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper. 

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record VEZ1975) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/VEZ1975/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_VEZ1975,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record VEZ1975},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/VEZ1975/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}