PRODUCTION OF LOVASTATIN BY A WILD STRAIN OF ASPERGILLUS-TERREUS

Of 68 Aspergillus terreus, three produced lovastatin with equivalent o r better yield than strain ATCC 20542 originally described for lovasta tin production. Medium optimization experiments with the best isolate (TUB F-514) indicated that lactose, rapeseed meal and KNO3 were the be st carbon, organic nitrogen and inorganic nitrogen sources, respective ly. In shake-flasks with optimized medium containing 4% (w/v) lactose, 400 mu g lovastatin/ml was produced, with a yield of 10 mg/g lactose. In solid substrate fermentation on extracted sweet sorghum pulp suppl emented with cheese whey 1500 mu g lovastatin/g dry weight was produce d with a yield of 37.5 mg/g lactose.