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Penicillin production and its mode of inheritance inAspergillus nidulans

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Abstract

Previous workers have shown that some strains ofAspergillus nidulans produce penicillin-like substances. In the present studies, shake-flask cultures of 101 wild-type strains ofA. nidulans, representatives of 18 different heterokaryon-compatible groups, were examined and filtrates of most found to inhibit the growth of a strain ofBacillus subtilis sensitive to penicillin, although members of two of these groups had no detectable antibiotic activity. Five strains with antibacterial properties were chosen for detailed investigation as well as two genetically labelled derivatives obtained from one of these after ultraviolet light treatments; one derivative had a similar antibiotic yield to its original wild-type parent but the other was selected as having increased antibiotic yield. The antibiotic produced by these seven strains was by all tested criteria, including chromatographic and electrophoretic behaviour, indistinguishable from penicillin. A heterokaryon test between the two mutants indicated that antibiotic productivity was under nuclear control.

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  1. G. Holt

    Present address: Orange Hill Grammar School for Boys, Edgeware, Middlescx, England

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Microbiological Research Establishment, Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England

    G. Holt & K. D. Macdonald

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  1. G. Holt
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  2. K. D. Macdonald
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Holt, G., Macdonald, K.D. Penicillin production and its mode of inheritance inAspergillus nidulans . Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 34, 409–416 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02046463

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02046463

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