Production of epsilon-poly-L-lysine by newly isolated Kitasatospora sp. PL6-3

Biotechnol J. 2006 Dec;1(12):1459-63. doi: 10.1002/biot.200600079.

Abstract

A novel epsilon-poly-L-lysine (epsilon-PL)-producing strain PL6-3 was isolated from soil, and was identified as a strain of Kitasatospora sp. This is the first detailed report of production of epsilon-PL by a strain in the genera of Kitasatospora. By controlling the culture pH at 4.0, the yield of epsilon-PL from PL6-3 reached 13.9 g/L after 120 h of cultivation in fed-batch fermentation. The morphological characteristics of Kitasatospora sp. PL6-3 in culture broth were different from those reported from strains of Streptomycetaceae, as no mycelium pellets were observed during the course of fermentation of PL6-3, which was beneficial to the assimilation of nutrition and secretion of the products. Furthermore, the molecular mass of the purified epsilon-PL from PL6-3 was determined to be 5.01 kDa by SDS-PAGE and 5.05 kDa by gel permeation chromatography, indicating that the epsilon-PL produced by this strain might be composed of 40 lysine residues. Usually, epsilon-PL with more lysine residues showed higher antimicrobial activity; however, it was difficult to obtain epsilon-PL with more than 36 lysine residues in this study. As a result, epsilon-PL from Kitasatospora sp. PL6-3, which contains more lysine residues than that from other strains, is more promising in the field of food preservatives.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Polylysine / isolation & purification*
  • Polylysine / metabolism*
  • Soil Microbiology*
  • Species Specificity
  • Streptomycetaceae / classification
  • Streptomycetaceae / isolation & purification*
  • Streptomycetaceae / metabolism*

Substances

  • Polylysine