Improvement in the titer of echinocandin-type antibiotics: a magnesium-limited medium supporting the biphasic production of pneumocandins A0 and B0.

We have developed a liquid fermentation medium for the submerged culture of the fungus, Zalerion arboricola, which supports the rapid production of an echinocandin-type antibiotic, pneumocandin A0 (formerly L-671,329), in yields increased at least 4-fold over those reported previously. The improvements were achieved through medium simplification, substitution of high levels of mannitol for glycerol as the major source of carbon, and restriction of available magnesium. Antibiotic formation in batch cultures with this mannitol-based medium is not confined to the idiophase; rather production appears to be biphasic, with synthesis beginning during growth (i.e., at day 3) and increasing in rate at day 11, well after rapid growth has ended. Accumulation of antibiotic continues beyond 14 days, and by 21 days titers greater than 500 micrograms/ml are attained. For the synthesis of a related compound, pneumocandin B0, by a mutant strain of Z. arboricola, the medium gives similar production kinetics and a titer of 800 micrograms/ml. Although supplementation of the medium with magnesium ions stimulates growth, it decreases titer by preferentially affecting the second phase of antibiotic synthesis. This decline in synthesis in the magnesium-supplemented medium is explained by the depletion of mannitol before the second phase of synthesis can begin. In contrast, mannitol in the magnesium-limited medium is used more slowly with approximately half still available at day 11 to support continued antibiotic formation.