Streptomycin, antibiotic synthesized by the soil organism Streptomyces griseus. Streptomycin was discovered by American biochemists Selman Waksman

, Albert Schatz, and Elizabeth Bugie in 1943. The drug acts by interfering with the ability of a microorganism to synthesize certain vital proteins.

Is streptomycin produced by fungi?

From 1945–1955 the development of penicillin, which is produced by a fungus, along with streptomycin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline, which are produced by soil bacteria, ushered in the antibiotic age (Figure 1).

What is streptomycin derived from?

Streptomycin, an antibiotic derived from Streptomyces griseus, was the first aminoglycoside to be discovered and used in practice in the 1940s. Selman Waksman and eventually Albert Schatz were recognized with the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery of streptomycin and its antibacterial activity.