[1][2][3][4] Violacein is produced by several species of bacteria, including Chromobacterium violaceum, and gives these organisms their striking purple hues.

Violacein shows increasing commercially interesting uses, especially for industrial applications in cosmetics, medicines and fabrics.

The genes required for its production, vioABCDE, and the regulatory mechanisms employed haves been studied within a small number of violacein-producing strains.

[9] Violacein is known to have diverse biological activities, including as a cytotoxic anticancer agent and antibacterial action against Staphylococcus aureus and other gram-positive pathogens.

[1][3][10][11] Determining the biological roles of this pigmented molecule has been of particular interest to researchers, and understanding violacein's function and mechanism of action is relevant to potential applications.