256
MAURICE WELSCH
But the production by a parasite of a poisonous substance that destroys the cells or tissues of its host or paralyzes its defense mechanisms,
the elaboration by the host of agents, whether preexisting or specifically
induced, that kill or impede the multiplication of a parasite, the secretion
by a plant or a microorganism, whether in nature or in artificial culture,
of chemicals that diffuse in its neighborhood and prevent its being
invaded by some other organisms, either because they are killed or their
growth is inhibited, are also biologically related phenomena falling
within the general concept of antibiosis. And here again, there is no
reason not to include the corresponding specifically human activities,
such as the use of synthetic chemicals or industrially manufactured
biological products to obtain the willful destruction of harmful parasites,
disease-transmitting arthropods, or other undesirable plants and animals.
A comparative analysis of the diverse manifestations of antibiosis
would thus include problems pertaining to extremely various fields of
science, ranging from sociology, psychology, and animal behaviorism to
animal and plant physiology and to microbial biochemistry. It is therefore obvious that, unfortunately, the time has not yet come to undertake
a comparative study of the biochemical basis of antibiosis in its broadest
sense.
B. ANTIBIOTICS
When the word antibiotic was used by Waksman and his co-workers,
starting around 1942, it was with the explicit statement that the word,
derived from Vuillemin's antibiosis, was to be applied only to certain
naturally occurring antimicrobial substances having a biological origin.
The definition, as fully given for the first time in 1945, was not
altogether satisfactory (12), and a better worded and more concise one
was proposed two years later: "Antibiotic or antibiotic substance. A
chemical substance produced by microorganisms which has the capacity
to inhibit the growth of bacteria and other microorganisms and even to
destroy them" (13).
Compared with Vuillemin's idea of antibiosis, the derived word antibiotic, as defined by Waksman, remains well within the limits conveyed
by the original concept, but with a more restricted meaning. Whereas
antibiosis was meant to cover harmful biological relationships without
specifying the nature of the mechanism involved, antibiotic applies only
to chemical agents. Whereas antibiosis was meant to cover harmful interrelationships between any kind of living beings, antibiotic, rather in
keeping with Papacostas and Gate's narrower use of the word antibiosis,
applies only to substances produced by, and noxious for, microorganisms.
MAURICE WELSCH
But the production by a parasite of a poisonous substance that destroys the cells or tissues of its host or paralyzes its defense mechanisms,
the elaboration by the host of agents, whether preexisting or specifically
induced, that kill or impede the multiplication of a parasite, the secretion
by a plant or a microorganism, whether in nature or in artificial culture,
of chemicals that diffuse in its neighborhood and prevent its being
invaded by some other organisms, either because they are killed or their
growth is inhibited, are also biologically related phenomena falling
within the general concept of antibiosis. And here again, there is no
reason not to include the corresponding specifically human activities,
such as the use of synthetic chemicals or industrially manufactured
biological products to obtain the willful destruction of harmful parasites,
disease-transmitting arthropods, or other undesirable plants and animals.
A comparative analysis of the diverse manifestations of antibiosis
would thus include problems pertaining to extremely various fields of
science, ranging from sociology, psychology, and animal behaviorism to
animal and plant physiology and to microbial biochemistry. It is therefore obvious that, unfortunately, the time has not yet come to undertake
a comparative study of the biochemical basis of antibiosis in its broadest
sense.
B. ANTIBIOTICS
When the word antibiotic was used by Waksman and his co-workers,
starting around 1942, it was with the explicit statement that the word,
derived from Vuillemin's antibiosis, was to be applied only to certain
naturally occurring antimicrobial substances having a biological origin.
The definition, as fully given for the first time in 1945, was not
altogether satisfactory (12), and a better worded and more concise one
was proposed two years later: "Antibiotic or antibiotic substance. A
chemical substance produced by microorganisms which has the capacity
to inhibit the growth of bacteria and other microorganisms and even to
destroy them" (13).
Compared with Vuillemin's idea of antibiosis, the derived word antibiotic, as defined by Waksman, remains well within the limits conveyed
by the original concept, but with a more restricted meaning. Whereas
antibiosis was meant to cover harmful biological relationships without
specifying the nature of the mechanism involved, antibiotic applies only
to chemical agents. Whereas antibiosis was meant to cover harmful interrelationships between any kind of living beings, antibiotic, rather in
keeping with Papacostas and Gate's narrower use of the word antibiosis,
applies only to substances produced by, and noxious for, microorganisms.