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Bacterial Violacein: Properties, Biosynthesis and Application Prospects

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Abstract

This review discusses the properties of violacein, a chromogenic secondary metabolite of bacteria with a wide range of biological activity, as well as the issues of its microbial synthesis and prospects for application. Violacein-synthesizing bacteria have been isolated from various sources, including the rhizosphere of cultivated plants, soils, marshes, sea coasts, ponds, and glacier melt waters. The study of the antibacterial, antimycotic, insecticidal, and antitumor properties of violacein makes it an extremely promising biologically active compound and causes a steadily increasing interest in both the compound itself and in the group of bacteria that produce it, in terms of the development of new drugs and veterinary drugs, as well as plant protection products. The purpose of this review is to attempt to summarize the considerable amount of data on this compound, especially regarding its antimicrobial and anticancer properties.

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    N. S. Lyakhovchenko, V. M. Travkin, V. Yu. Senchenkov & I. P. Solyanikova

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Lyakhovchenko, N.S., Travkin, V.M., Senchenkov, V.Y. et al. Bacterial Violacein: Properties, Biosynthesis and Application Prospects. Appl Biochem Microbiol 58, 692–700 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0003683822060072

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