Summary
A resting cell system was developed for the biosynthesis of soluble red pigments byMonascus. The medium contains glucose, glycine, ZnSO4 and MnSO4 in pH 7.0 MOPS buffer containing cycloheximide to prevent protein synthesis. The linear production observed over a period of at least four h was due to de novo polyketide synthesis and biological methylation, as shown by inhibition with cerulenin, iodoacetamide and ethionine. Production was inhibited by carbonyl reagents and stimulated by pyridoxamine suggesting that the conversion of endogenous intracellular orange pigments to extracellular red pigments involves Schiff base intermediates and vitamin B6 a cofactor. The resting cell system was used to study the mode of action of nutritional effectors previously pinpointed by experiments with growing cells. The negative effects of high concentrations of phosphate and Mg++ are due to inhibition of pigment synthase action, not to repression or inactivation of these enzymes. The positive effects of trace metals, especially Zn++, are due to stimulation of growth and enzyme action, not to induction or stabilization of the synthases.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bau, Y.S. and H.C. Wong. 1979. Zinc effect on growth, pigmentation and antibacterial activity ofMonascus purpureus. Physiol. Plant. 46: 63–67.
Birch, A.J., A. Cassera, P. Fitton, J.S. Holker, H. Smith, G.A. Thompson and W.B. Whalley. 1962. Studies in relation to biosynthesis. Part 30. Rotiorin, monascin and rubropunctatin. J. Chem. Soc. 3583–3586.
Carels, M. and D. Shepherd. 1977. The effect of different nitrogen sources on pigment production and sporulation. Can. J. Microbiol. 23: 1360–1372.
Chen, F.C., P.S. Manchand and W.B. Whalley. 1971. The chemistry of fungi. Part 54. The structure of monascin: the relative stereochemistry of the azaphilones. J. Chem. Soc. (C) Org. Chem. 3577–3579.
Cordes, E.H. and W.P. Jencks. 1962. On the mechanism of Schiff base formation and hydrolysis. J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 84: 832–837.
Demain, A.L. and Y.M. Kennel. 1978. Resting-cell studies on carbon source regulation of β-lactam antibiotic biosynthesis. J. Ferment. Technol. 56: 323–328.
Gupta, S.K., K.K. Maggon and T.A. Venkitasubramanian. 1976. Zinc-dependence of glycolytic enzymes in an aflatoxigenic strain ofAspergillus parasiticus. Microbios. Lett. 3: 89–92.
Hadfield, J.R., J.S.E. Holker and D.N. Stanway. 1967. The biosynthesis of fungal metabolites. Part II. The β-oxo-lactone equivalent in rubropunctatin and monascorubrin. J. Chem. Soc. (C) Org. Chem. 751–755.
Jencks, W.P. 1969. Carbonyl-and acyl-group reactions. In: Catalysis in Chemistry and Enzymology, pp. 463–554. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Lee, E.G.H., P.M. Townsley and C.C. Walden. 1966. Effect of bivalent metals on the production of aflatoxin in submerged cultures. J. Food Sci. 31: 432–436.
Lin, T.F. 1991. Studies on the formation ofMonascus red pigments. Ph.D. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
Lin, T.F. and A.L. Demain. 1991. Effect of nutrition on formation ofMonascus red pigments. Appl. Microbiol. Biotech. 36: 70–75.
Lin, T.F., K. Yakusijin, G. Büchi and A.L. Demain. 1992. Formation of water-solubleMonascus red pigments by biological and semi-synthetic processes. J. Ind. Microbiol. 9: 173–179.
Lowry, T.H. and K.S. Richardson. 1987. Reactions of carbonyl compounds. In: Mechanism and Theory in Organic Chemistry, 3rd edn, pp. 661–735, Harper & Row, New York.
Manchand, P.S. and W.B. Whalley. 1973. Isolation and structure of ankaflavin; a new pigment fromMonascus anka. Phutochemistry 12: 2531–2532.
McGuire, J.C., G. Glotfety and R.J. White. 1980. Use of cerulenin in selecting improved mutants of a daunorubicin-producing streptomycete. In: Advances in Biotechnology. Vol 1, (Moo-Young, M., C.W. Robison and C. Vezina, eds), pp. 57–61, Pergamon Press, Toronto.
Omura, S. 1976. The antibiotic cerulenin, a novel tool for biochemistry as an inhibitor of fatty acid synthesis. Bacteriol. Rev. 40: 681–697.
Scott, R.E., A. Jones and G.M. Gaucher. 1986. Manganese and antibiotic synthesis. III. The site of manganese control of patulin production inPenicillium urticae. Can. J. Microbiol. 32: 273–279.
Shane, B. and E.E. Snell. 1976. The transport of vitamin B6 in the yeastSaccharomyces carlsbergensis 4228. J. Biol. Chem. 25: 1042–1051.
Streitwieser, A. Jr and C.H. Heathcock. 1985. Aldehydes and ketones. In: Introduction to Organic Chemistry, 3rd edn, pp. 383–386, Macmillan, New York.
Tomoda, H., A. Kawaguchi, S. Omura and S. Okuda. 1984. Cerulenin resistance in a cerulenin-producing fungus. II. Characterization of fatty acid synthase fromCephalosporium cerulens. J. Biochem. 95: 1705–1712.
Tryfiates, G.P. 1986. Pyridoxal phosphate and metabolism. In: Vitamin B6. Pyridoxal Phosphate. Chemical, Biological, and Medical Aspects. Part B (Dolphin, D., R. Poulson and O. Avramovic, eds), pp. 421–447, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Turner, W.B. and D.C. Aldridge. 1983. Fungal Metabolites II, pp. 55–223, Academic Press, New York.
Walsh, C. 1979. Enzymatic reactions requiring pyridoxal phosphate. In: Enzymatic Reaction Mechanisms, pp. 777–827, W.H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco.
Wang, H.L. and C.W. Hesseltine. 1979. Mold-modified foods. In: Microbial Technology. Vol. 7, 2nd edn (Peppler, H.J. and D. Perlman, eds), pp. 95–129, Academic Press, New York.
Weinberg, E.D. 1989. Roles of micronutrients in secondary metabolism of actinomycetes. In: Regulation of Secondary Metabolism in Actinomycetes (Shapiro, S., ed.), pp. 239–261, CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Whalley, W.B. 1963. The sclerotiorin group of fungal metabolites: their structure and biosynthesis. Pure Appl. Chem. 7: 565–587.
Zollner, H. 1989. Handbook of Enzyme Inhibitors, pp. 322–323, VCH Weinheim, Germany.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lin, T.F., Demain, A.L. Resting cell studies on formation of water-soluble red pigments byMonascus sp.. Journal of Industrial Microbiology 12, 361–367 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01569666
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01569666