Influence of culture conditions on lipopeptide production by Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis produces various families of lipopeptides with different homologous compounds. To produce "new molecules" with improved activities a nd to select strains that produced a reduced number of homologs or isomers, we studied the effects of different media on the nature of the synthesis o f fatty; acid chains for each lipopeptide family. This study focused on two B. subtilis strains cultivated in flasks. Optimized medium for lipopeptide production and Landy medium modified by replacing glutamic acid with other alpha -amino acids were used. We found that the intensity of production of homologous compounds depends on the strain and the culture medium. Analysi s of these lipopeptides by high-performance liquid chromatography showed th at the strain R. subtilis NT02 yielded various homologous compounds when cu ltivated in Landy medium (L-Glu), but primarily one homologous product in h i,oh relative amounts when cultivated in the optimized medium. Mass spectro metric analysis and determination of the amino acid composition of this mol ecule enabled us to identify it as Bacillomycine L c15.