Which of the following microbe is used in production of antibiotics?

A. Penicillium notatum

B. Streptomyces gresieus

C. Aspersillus niger

D. Clostridium butylicium

E. Sacchoromyces cerevisae 

Choose the correct answer form the options given below: 

A & B only

The correct answer is Option (1) - A & B only

Antibiotics produced by microbes are regarded as one of the most significant discoveries of the twentieth century and have greatly contributed towards the welfare of the human society. Anti is a Greek word that means ‘against’, and bio means ‘life’, together they mean ‘against life’ (in the context of disease causing organisms); whereas with reference to human beings, they are ‘pro life’ and not against.

Antibiotics are chemical substances, which are produced by some microbes and can kill or retard the growth of other (disease-causing) microbes. Penicillin was the first antibiotic to be discovered. Penicillin was isolated from the mould Penicillium notatum. After Penicillin, other antibiotics were also purified from other microbes. Antibiotics have greatly improved our capacity to treat deadly diseases such as plague, whooping cough (kali khansi), diphtheria (gal ghotu) and leprosy (kusht rog), which used to kill millions all over the globe.

The antibiotic streptomycin is produced by bacterium Streptomyces griseus.