Antibiotic production by Streptomyces aureofaciens using self‐cycling fermentation

Abstract

The self‐cycling frementation (;rSCF) technique was applied to culture of Streptomyces aureofaciens. SCF is a method of continuous fermentation in which the metabolism of a microorganism is monitored by a measurement such as dissolved oxygen. These data are sent to a computer to allow it to control the system. Tetracycline production was observed only at exceedingly low iron concentrations in the growth medium. Repeatability of cycles was found to be dependent upon the presence of tetracycline in the fermentation broth as well as the strain of microorganism grown in the fermentor. Tetracycline was produced by an improved specific rate when compared to results in the literature for this organism grown using the batch method. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.