Regulation and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. XVIII. Adenylate level and chlorotetracycline production in Streptomyces aureofaciens

Abstract

The relationship was studied between the energy metabolism of the actinomycete Streptomyces aureofaciens and the biosynthesis of chlorotetracycline by this organism. The energy charge values in a culture of low-production strain were almost identical with those of a production variant but the total sum of adenylates was about 10 times higher. In the stationary growth phase both strains evinced a drop in energy charge values followed by a rise to the original level. An increase in the concentration of inorganic phosphate in fermentation medium caused a suppression of antibiotic formation in the lowproduction strain and further rise in the total adenylate level. The expression of the energy charge in Streptomyces aureofaciens acquires a complex character owing to the participation, apart from the adenylate system, of high-molecular polyphosphates as energy donors and the probable lack of a regulating mechanism such as the adenylate kinase reaction.