MUTATION OF CEPHALOSPORIUM ACREMONIUM NRRL-2443 THROUGH UVIRRADIATION FOR CEPHALOSPORIN-C PRODUCTION

Abstract

The present study is concerned with the selection of a mutant variant of
Cephalosporium acremonium for the optimal production of cephalosporin-C. The
parental strain C. acremonium NRRL-2443 was subjected to UV-radiations for 10-80
min. Among all the mutants tested, C. acremonium GCUV-6 gave maximum antibiotic
i.e. 454 mg/ml, which was 3.91 fold improved compared to the wild (116 mg/ml).
The cultural conditions and nutritional requirements for cephalosporin-C production
by selected mutant were optimized by submerged culture technique. The incubation
period (72 h), initial pH (6.5) and soybean meal (6.0 %, w/v) supported maximum
production of cephalosporin-C (493 mg/ml).