PRODUCTION OF BETA-LACTAM ANTIBIOTICS BY MICROORGANISMS

beta-lactam antibiotics are commercially and clinically important comp ounds that are produced by bacteria as well as by filamentous fungi. T here is a great interest not only to increase the yield of microbial a ntibiotic production but also to generate new and highly effective ant ibiotics. It may be foreseen that this aim is reached by the use of in vitro recombinant technology. The biochemical as well as the physiolo gical data which seem to be important for the understanding of beta-la ctam biosynthesis is filamentous fungi are summarised. In addition, re cent technical advances are mentioned which become available through m olecular biology. Examples are given to demonstrate the feasability of DNA recombinant technology for biotechnical applications by introduci ng novel biosynthetic pathways into fungal beta-lactam producers.