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Optimization of citrinin production by endophytic Penicillium citrinum isolated from Ziziphus jujuba

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Abstract

Citrinin is a common mycotoxin produced by different fungi. Although considerable endeavors have been made to increase citrinin output to meet the requirements of research and industrial needs, few methods are effective, owing to potential safety concerns and technical limitations. In this study, a blue fungus that produces a yellow pigment was isolated from Ziziphus jujuba. The strain was then identified as Penicillium citrinum and named HR-087. Preparative liquid chromatography was used to extract the yellow pigment. Both LC–MS and NMR assays showed that it was citrinin. To enhance the citrinin production of this strain, the culture medium was optimized through orthogonal experiments, as well as batch and fed-batch process. The final titer and productivity of citrinin reached 9.62 g/L and 0.1 g/(L × h), respectively. The high titer achieved indicates the possibility of large-scale production of high purity citrinin for low-cost supply for both academic and diagnostic analysis standard.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information file.

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Acknowledgements

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC1604102) and the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars (21822806).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China

    Hengrui Zhou, Song Gao, Weizhu Zeng & Jingwen Zhou

  2. Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education and School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China

    Hengrui Zhou, Song Gao & Jingwen Zhou

  3. College of Life Sciences, Yan’an University, 580 Shengdi Road, Yan’an, 716000, Shanxi, China

    Zhenshan Deng

  4. Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education On Food Synthetic Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi, 214122, Jiangsu, China

    Hengrui Zhou, Song Gao & Jingwen Zhou

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  1. Hengrui Zhou
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  2. Song Gao
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  3. Weizhu Zeng
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  4. Zhenshan Deng
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Contributions

HZ carried out the experiments and drafted the manuscript. SG assisted in optimization of biosynthesis reaction conditions. ZD collected the Ziziphus jujuba and purified the strain. WZ and JZ participated in designing the study and writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jingwen Zhou.

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Zhou, H., Gao, S., Zeng, W. et al. Optimization of citrinin production by endophytic Penicillium citrinum isolated from Ziziphus jujuba. Syst Microbiol and Biomanuf 2, 634–642 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43393-022-00087-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43393-022-00087-7

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