Few fascinating facts about violacein!

Janthinobacterium lividum produces a pigment violacein which is violet in colour and usually found in soil and water. This bacterium is Gram-negative, motile, rod-shaped, strictly aerobic, chemoorganotrophic, and usually grow at a temperature optimum of 25-30 °C.

by Jenna Tabor-Godwin, Rhona Stuart, Rosa I. León Zayas, and Chitra Rajakuberan Some bugs are exciting but it takes them a while to become well known. The rod-shaped, Gram-negative Janthinobacterium lividum falls in this category. But recent discoveries about its physiology, ecology, and medicine highlight its importance. J. lividum is commonly found in soil and...

As a compound, violacein is known to have diverse biological activities, including being an anticancer agent and being an antibiotic against Gram-positive pathogens. Identifying the biological roles of this pigmented molecule is of particular interest, and understanding violacein function and mechanism of action has relevance to those unmasking any of its commercial or therapeutic benefits.

Disease has spurred declines in global amphibian populations. In particular, the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis has decimated amphibian div

The present review aimed to describe updated outcomes on this microbial pigment known as violacein, with emphasis on its antifungal use. Novel aspects of mechanistic views on violacein's action as an antifungal drug and its synergistic activity in drug release processes gave new possibilities for antifungal treatments.

A model system was used to examine the impact of violacein-producing bacteria on feeding rates, growth, and survival of three common bacterivorous nanoflagellates. Freshwater isolates of Janthinobacterium lividum and Chromobacterium violaceum produced the purple pigment violacein and exhibited acute toxicity to the nanoflagellates tested. High-resolution video microscopy revealed that these bacteria were ingested by the flagellates at high rates.