Development of a chemically defined medium for the synthesis of actinomycin D by Streptomyces parvulus.

A chemically defined medium, consisting of d-fructose, l-glutamic acid, l-histidine, K(2)HPO(4), MgSO(4).7H(2)O, ZnSO(4).7H(2)O, CaCl(2).2H(2)O, FeSO(4).7H(2)O, CoCl(2).6H(2)O, and deionized water, was developed for synthesis of high yields (500 to 600 mug/ml) of actinomycin D by Streptomyces parvulus. Under these nutritional conditions, growth and actinomycin formation did not follow a typical trophophase-idiophase pattern. The amino acids appeared to have a sparing action on the utilization of d-fructose which was slowly and incompletely metabolized during mycelium development and antibiotic production. A significant repression of actinomycin synthesis by S. parvulus was observed when d-glucose (0.01 to 0.25%) was added to the culture medium. The repression was not due to a decline in the pH of the medium during glucose catabolism.