science

Tartrolon

Tartrolon is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tartrolon rather than just read about it. In short: Tartrolons are a group of boron-containing macrolide antibiotics discovered in 1994 from the culture broth of the myxobacterium Sorangium cellulosum. Two variants of tartrolons, A and B, were identified.

Key takeaways

Tartrolon belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tartrolon to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tartrolon from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tartrolons are a group of boron-containing macrolide antibiotics discovered in 1994 from the culture broth of the myxobacterium Sorangium cellulosum. Two variants of tartrolons, A and B, were identified. Tartrolon B contains a boron atom, while tartrolon A does not.

Discovery In a study publishied in 1994, the producing organism, Sorangium cellulosum strain So ce 678, was isolated by a group of German scientists (Dietmar Schummer, Herbert Irschik, Hans Reichenbach, Gerhard Höfle) from a soil sample collected near Braunschweig in 1990, as antibiotics of the macrolide group. Synthesis was achieved by fermentation in the presence of the adsorber resin XAD-16. Adsorber resin is a type of synthetic polymer used to selectively extract and purify target molecules from solutions.

These findings were confirmed by a subsequent study, in 1995, where the strain was grown on a medium containing potato starch, yeast extract, defatted soja meal, glucose-H2O, MgSO4·7H2O, CaCl2-2H2O and Na-Fe(III)-EDTA at pH 7.2. To isolate greater quantities of tartrolons for research purposes or potential applications in medicine, the strain was cultivated in a bioreactor. Cultivation was started with an inoculum grown in Erlenmeyer flasks under shaking at 30°C with an aeration rate of 0.15 m3 air per hour and a stirrer speed of 150 RPM.

Laboratory synthesis The synthesis and regulation of tartrolons are influenced by the presence or absence of glass flasks during cultivation or by adding sodium tetraborate to the culture medium. When not exposed to glass or sodium tetraborate supplementation is absent, tartrolon A is predominantly produced; otherwise, tartrolon B becomes the main product.

Biological properties Tartrolons have been found to inhibit Gram-positive bacteria similar to other related boron-containing antibiotics like boromycin and aplasmomycin, as their boron binding regions are identical. Tartrolons also show toxicity towards mammalian cell cultures.

Potential applications The antimicrobial properties of tartrolons indicate they could be investigated as antibiotics to combat bacterial infections. The efficacy, safety, mechanism of action, and other potential medicinal uses of tartrolons are not yet established. Also unknown is whether they act through selectivity towards enzymes or through interference with energy delivery and membrane integrity, and whether they have any biological role beyond their antibiotic activity in nature. One potential application of tartrolons is the study of species such as Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterium that can cause the infectious disease known as listeriosis. It is a foodborne pathogen and poses a significant risk to human health. Listeriosis primarily affects individuals with weakened immune systems, pregnant women, newborns, and the elderly. Listeria monocytogenes is present in diverse habitats where tartrolons are found, which makes tartrolons a candidate for suppressing this and related pathogens. The antimicrobial properties exhibited by tartrolon B and its induction of the timABR locus, which contributes to resistance against tartrolons in Listeria monocytogenes, suggest their potential for antibacterial activities. The specific effectiveness and mechanisms involved in controlling Listeria monocytogenes with tartrolons are not yet determined. Studying tartrolons may clarify how pathogens like Listeria adapt to diverse habitats and survive within their ecological niches despite the presence of antimicrobial compounds produced by other microorganisms. Understanding these mechanisms could aid in developing strategies to control or prevent infections caused by Listeria or related pathogens. Besides the application in medicine, studying the interaction between Listeria monocytogenes and tartrolons may expose the broader ecological dynamics between bacteria in natural reservoirs such as soil and marine environments where both pathogenic and non-pathogenic species coexist. This knowledge can contribute to understanding of microbial ecology and can help design interventions to manage bacterial populations in agricultural settings or food production facilities where contamination with Listeria can occur.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tartrolon

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tartrolon claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tartrolon before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tartrolon ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tartrolon

In research: Tartrolon appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tartrolon in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tartrolon is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Antibiotics, Boron, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tartrolon outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Tartrolon” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Tartrolon in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tartrolon means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tartrolon out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tartrolon in simple terms?

Why does Tartrolon matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tartrolon?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tartrolon.