Exploring the Optimization of UV Mutants of Streptomyces clavuligerus for Clavulanic Acid Production

Abstract

Streptomyces clavuligerus, initially described as a Cephamycin C producer, has been currently utilized to produce clavulanic acid (CA) which shows low antibiotic activity, being, however, a strong β-lactamase inhibitor, enzymes responsible for bacterial resistance to β-lactam antibiotics. Genetic improvement by physical and chemical agents is mandatory since, due to its genetic instability, industrial strains lose production capability making necessary a steady and frequent strain improvement and a screening procedure. The objective of this work was to obtain an increase in CA production in submerged cultures by utilizing mutants obtained by UV radiation of Original Research Articlewith this mutant, although a lower specific growth rate had been observed.

Clavulanic Acid Production by Streptomyces clavuligerus: Insights from Systems Biology, Strain Engineering, and Downstream Processing

“…MU-NRC77 ) that was able to produce 0.272 g∙L −1 of CA in the production medium, while the addition of H 2 O 2 and plant charcoal increased the production up to 0.649 and 0.683 g∙L −1 , respectively. Recently, Cruz-Hernandez et al [ 120 ] also used UV mutagenesis for enhanced CA titer by S. clavuligerus . The authors obtained mutants of S. clavuligerus ATCC 27064 via UV radiation, and one of them achieved a CA concentration of 0.500 g∙L −1 .…”