The Fragmentation of the Mycelium of Penicillium notatum and Penicillium chrysogenum by a High-Speed Blender and the Evaluation of Blended Seed

Abstract

A high speed blender was used to increase the number of seed units in a given volume of mycelial seed for the penicillin fermentation. Such blended seed at 1:40,000 dilution brought about a fermentation identical in rate and extent with that of unblended seed at 1:10 dilution. Comparisons were made on a Moyer''s corn-steep submerged-type medium in Erlenmeyer "shake-flask" fer-menters. The test organisms were Penicillium notatum, NRRL 832 and Penicillium chrysogenum, NRRL 1951. High speed blending did not cause many cell ruptures in 2 minutes. Most of the cell fragments appeared to have been formed by separation at a crosswall. The actual value of using small seed volumes of either blended or unblended seed with large fermenters will have to be evaluated in terms of current practice. A special top with splash plate for blending asceptically is shown.