ANTIBIOTIC PRODUCTION BY STREPTOMYCES-AUREOFACIENS USING SELF-CYCLINGFERMENTATION

The self-cycling fermentation (SCF) technique was applied to cultures of Streptomyces aureofaciens. SCF is a method of continuous fermentati on in which the metabolism of a microorganism is monitored by a measur ement such as dissolved oxygen. These data are sent to a computer to a llow it to control the system. Tetracycline production was observed on ly at exceedingly low iron concentrations in the growth medium. Repeat ability of cycles was found to be dependent upon the presence of tetra cycline in the fermentation broth as well as the strain of microorgani sm grown in the fermenter. Tetracycline was produced by an improved sp ecific rate when compared to results in the literature for this organi sm grown using the batch method. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.