Why are Streptomyces bacteria called “antibiotic factories”?
Madehow.com: Antibiotic After the discovery of penicillin, other antibiotics were sought. In 1939, work began on the isolation of potential antibiotic products from the soil bacteria streptomyces. It was around this time that the term antibiotic was introduced. Selman Waxman and associates discovered streptomycin in 1944. Subsequent studies resulted in the discovery of a host of new, different antibiotics including actinomycin, streptothricin, and neomycin all produced by Streptomyces. Other antibiotics that have been discovered since include bacitracin, polymyxin, viomycin, chloramphenicol and tetracyclines. Since the 1970s, most new antibiotics have been synthetic modifications of naturally occurring antibiotics. Wikipedia: Production of antibiotics Identifying use