Energetics of growth and penicillin production in a high-producing strain of Penicillium chrysogenum

The results of a large number of carbon-limited chemostat cultures of Penic illium chrysogenum carried out on glucose, ethanol, and acetate as the grow th limiting substrate have been used to obtain an estimation of the adenosi ne triphosphate (ATP) costs for mycelium growth, penicillin production, and maintenance and the overall stoichiometry of oxidative phosphorylation of the fungus. It was found that penicillin production was accompanied by a si gnificant additional energy drain (73 mol of ATP per mole of penicillin-G) from primary metabolism. This finding has been confirmed in independent exp eriments and has been shown to result in a significantly lower estimate for the maximum theoretical yield of penicillin-G on the carbon source. (C) 20 00 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.