Enhancement of monacolin K production via intergeneric protoplast fusion between Aspergillus terreus and Monascus anka

Intergenric protoplast fusion between Aspergillus terreus CA99 and Monascus anka M-3, the high and low producers of monacolin K respectively，was performed for enhancement of monacolin K production. The 24-hour-old mycelia of A. terreus CA99 and M. anka M-3 were treated with 0.5% lywallzyme, 0.3% snailase and 0.3% cellulase at 34℃ for 5 h and at 30℃ for 3.5 h, and their protoplasts formation reached 1.76×10⁷/mL and 1.68×10⁷/mL respectively. Parental protoplasts were irradiated with a 30 W UV light away from 30 cm for 3 min and then mixed. The mixture was incubated with 30% PEG 6000 for 15 min. The reviving fusants were isolated on the regeneration plates. Of the 363 fusants isolated, over 100 showed enhanced monacolin K production compared with the parental strain M. anka M-3. Ten of them produced monacolin K about 1.6-fold of that M.anka M-3 does and the monacolin K titer of two fusants (F49 and F104) increased by about 1-fold. The monacolin K yields of F49 and F104 were 460 μg/mL and 457 μg/mL respectively. In optimized fermentation medium, the monacolin K titer of F49 reached 1216 μg/mL.

Enhancement of monacolin K production via intergeneric protoplast fusion between Aspergillus terreus and Monascus anka