OVERVIEW

Hygromycin B is an antibiotic with broad spectrum activity against prokaryotes and eukaryotes (1). Hygromycin B is produced by Streptomyces hygroscopicus, a bacteria isolated in 1953 from a soil sample. This antibiotic was originally developed for veterinary use and is still added in animal food as an anthelmintic (Hygromix). Since the discovery in the early eighties of hygromycin-resistance genes (2,3), hygromycin B has become a standard selection agent in gene transfer experiments in a wide variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

Two grades of hygromycin B are available from Hygromycin.net:

  • Standard grade hygromycin B (85% pure)
  • Highly purified hygromycin B (>98% pure) called HygroGold™.

 

References

  1. Pettinger R. C., Wolfe R. N., Hoehn M. M., Marks P. N., Dailey W. A. and McGuire J. M. (1953). Hygromycin I. Preliminary studies on the production and biological activity of a new antibiotic. Antibiot. Chemother. 3, 1268-1278.
  2. Gritz L, Davies J. (1983) Plasmid-encoded hygromycin B resistance: the sequence of hygromycin B phosphotransferase gene and its expression in Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Gene 25(2-3):179-88.
  3. Kaster KR, Burgett SG, Rao RN, Ingolia TD. (1983) Analysis of a bacterial hygromycin B resistance gene by transcriptional and translational fusions and by DNA sequencing. Nucleic Acids Res. 11(19):6895-911.
  4. Lacal JC, Carrasco L. (1983) Antiviral effects of hygromycin B, a translation inhibitor nonpermeant to uninfected cells. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 24(2):273-5.