Antibiotic-producing fungi: current status of nomenclature.

Although there are a large number of species of fungi, only a relative few have been found to produce antibiotics, and only seven antibiotics are produced commercially. The 1970 Information Bulletin, No. 8 (3) of the International Center of Information on Antibiotics lists 338 species of fungi that produce antibiotics. According to 1967 (11) and 1970 (13) lists assembled by Perlman, the following antibiotics are produced commercially: Fusidic acid formed by Fusidium coccineum Hickel, griseofulvin formed by Penicillium griseofulvim Dierk, penicillins f0l111ed by Penicillium chrysogenum Thom, variotin formed by Paecilomyces varioti Bainier, derivatives of cephalosporin formed by Emericellopsis (Cephalosporium), and fumagillin produced by Aspergillus fumigatus Fres. Since then, siccanin produced by Helmintlwsporium siccans Drechsler has been produced in Japan. According to Perlman (12), only three groups of antibiotics are produced by fungi in the United States. These are the cephalosporins, penicillins, and fumagillin.