INFLUENCE OF GLYCEROL AND ORNITHINE FEEDING ON CLAVULANIC ACID PRODUCTION BY Streptomyces clavuligerus

The influence of glycerol and ornithine feeding on clavulanic acid (CA) production by Streptomyces clavuligerus was investigated. In batch experiments, CA maximum concentration (Cp-max) ranged randomly from 430 to 560 mg.L-1, with a maximum increase of 10% in relation to the control run, without ornithine. However, the maximum volumetric productivity of CA (Pp(max)) of 13.7 mg.L-1. h(-1) was obtained with 0.66 g.L-1 of ornithine, 44.2% higher than the Pp(max) in the control run. In fed-batch experiments, Cp-max varied within the narrow range from 1.254 to 1.405 g.L-1, 2.5 times higher than that obtained in the control run. The presence of ornithine increased the Pp(max), although it influenced only slightly the Cp-max. Concerning glycerol, the highest CA production of 1.6 g.L-1 was obtained in the fed-batch with glycerol and ornithine (180 and 3.7 g.L-1) in a 10-L bioreactor, showing a positive effect of ornithine and glycerol, in the proper proportion (48.6: 1), on CA biosynthesis.