The stimulation of bioluminescence in Photobacterium leiognathi as a potential prescreen for antitumor agents.

The stimulation of bioluminescence in Photobacterium leiognathi has previously been described as a test for genotoxic compounds. An adaptation of this procedure has been developed which uses a dim variant of P. leiognathi and permits the prescreening of microbial fermentation broths for potential antitumor agents. Bioluminescence in this organism was stimulated by compounds which bind to DNA or affect DNA synthesis. Antibiotics with target sites such as protein, cell wall or RNA synthesis, did not alter bioluminescence. Fermentation broths from over 5,000 soil isolates were prescreened in this assay and 95 (1.6%) were defined as active. Further analysis of selected cultures suggested that about half produced compound(s) with DNA-binding activity. These results suggest that the photobacterium induction assay (PIA) may be useful as a prescreen for potential antitumor agents. The assay is rapid, simple and requires only microgram quantities of material for testing.