Microbial growth and production kinetics of Streptomyces antibioticus Tu 6040

Streptomyces antibioticus Tu 6040 is the producer of simocyclinones, which belong to a novel family of angucyclinone antibiotics some of which show an titumor activities. Growth and antibiotic production is dependent on the me dium composition, especially on the carbon and nitrogen source, and on the fermentation conditions. The best results with respect to antibiotic produc tivity were achieved using a chemically defined medium with glycerol and L- lysine as carbon and nitrogen source, respectively, in an airlift fermenter with minimised shear stress at low gas flow rates withour oxygen limitatio n. These conditions led to a homogeneous formation of pellets of 1-2 mm in diameter and guaranteed reproducible product yields of the main compound, s imocyclinone D8, in the range of 300 mg/l.