B-factor, an essential regulatory substance inducing the production of rifamycin in a Nocardia sp.

"Curing" treatment of a rifamycin-producing Nocardia sp. resulted in a mutant deficient in the synthesis of antibiotics. This deficiency was reversed in a medium containing yeast extract. The active substance, named B-factor, which induced rifamycin production in the mutant was purified from yeast extract, and its structure, 3'-(1-butylphosphoryl) adenosine, was determined by structural analysis and chemical synthesis. An extremely low concentration of B-factor (10 ng/ml) caused recovery of rifamycin B synthesis in the mutant and stimulated synthesis of the antibiotic in the parental strain.