Effect of inoculum parameters on the specificity of secondary synthesis in cultures producing novobiocin and mycoheptin

: The impact of the vegetative inoculum parameters on specificity of the secondary synthesis in the cultures producing novobiocin and mycoheptin was studied. During the study the fermentation conditions were varied by using the vegetative inoculum differing in the respiration rate after its transfer to the fermentation medium. To show the decisive role of the inoculum parameters in regulation of the specificity of the secondary synthesis, the dynamics of accumulation of certain metabolites forming from glucose along with the main antibiotic and the activity of the key enzymes of the carbohydrate metabolism during the culture growth in the fermentation media were studied. It was found that the specificity of the secondary synthesis with respect to certain metabolites was defined by the intensity of carbohydrate metabolism, i. e. the ratio of the activity of enzymes of glycolysis and the pentosephosphate pathway. In this regard, the inoculum with the maximum respiration rate in an amount of 10 to 20 per cent promoted the highest productivity of the mycelium by the synthesis of novobiocin and mycoheptin while the rate of accumulation of fatty acids, carbohydrates and phenol compounds (for Streptomyces spheroides) and mycopentene (for Streptoverticillium mycoheptinicum) decreased.