Studies on Bacillus stearothermophilus. Part III. Transformation of testosterone

Bacillus stearothermophilus, a thermophilic bacterium isolated from the Kuwaiti desert, produced a variety of monohydroxy androstene derivatives and an oxidized product when incubated with exogenous testosterone for 24 h at 65°C. The major metabolite was identified as androst-4-en-3,17-dione while minor metabolites included 6α-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3,17-dione, 6β-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3,17-dione, 6α-hydroxytestosterone, and 6β-hydroxytestosterone. These metabolites were purified by TLC and HPLC followed by their identification using 1H- and 13C-NMR and other spectroscopic data.