Enhancement in production of erythromycin by Saccharopolyspora erythraea by the use of suitable industrial seeding media

Background and purpose of the study: There is no report on the effect of seeding-medium ingredients on Saccharopolyspora erythraea growth and erythromycin production. In this study, the enhancing effects of seeding-media which have been used routinely for screening, isolation or identification of actinomycetes, on Saccharopolyspora erythraea growth and erythromycin production were investigated. The control medium contained soybean meal, glucose, glycerol, (NH4)2SO4 and CaCO3 as the major constituents and several media (I, II, III, ISP2, ISP3 and ISP4) were used for production of the antibiotic. Concentrations of biomass and erythromycin were measured by spectrophotometry, HPLC and bioassay methods and the effects of the composition of seeding media on pH were also determined. The concentration of erythromycin in medium II was 2.71g/l (1.33 times more than that of the control medium) and trends in production were: medium II > ISP4 = ISP2 = Control > ISP2 = Control = ISP3 > ISP3 = medium III = medium I. In the media containing starch and casein, the hyphae of S. erythraea were star-shaped and much branched. Major By virtue of other technical and economical characteristics of the seeding media used for erythromycin production, it is concluded that medium II is the best seeding medium formulation for erythromycin in comparison to others.