Abstract It is concluded from experiments with (S)-[CO15NH2]glutamine and [15N]ammonium sulphate that the biosynthesis of iodinin (1), in Brevibacterium iodinum, and of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (7), in Pseudomonas aureofaciens, is primarily from a single nitrogen source (glutamine) and that the phenazines are constitued by combination of two units of the same precursor, as. 5. Some observations are made on the inhibition and triggering of iodinin biosynthesis.