ABSTRACT
Bitespiramycin, a group of 4"-O-acylated spiramycins with 4"-O-isovalerylspiramycins as the major components, was produced by recombinantspiramycin-producing strain Streptomyces spiramyceticus harboring a 4"-O-acyltransferase gene. The experiment was initially performed in synthetic medium with 0.5 g l-1 Valine, Isoleucine or Leucine feeding at 36 h cultivation. When valine was fed, the biological titer of bitespiramycin was 45.3 percent higher than that of the control group, but the relative content of total isovalerylspiramycin components decreased by 22.5 percent. In the case of ilecine, the biological titer of bitespiramycin and the total isovalerylspiramycins alone were 85 percent and 72.1 percent of the control group, respectively. In contrast, the relative content of other acylated spiramycins increased by 54.41 percent. However, leucine feeding increased the relative content of total isovalerylspiramycins by 41.9 percent while the biological titer of bitespiramycin was nearly equal to that of the control group. The improvement effect of leucine on the biosynthesis of isovalerylspiramycins was further confirmed by feeding of 2.0 g l-1 leucine to the culture with complex medium. After batch feeding with a total amount of 2.0 g l-1 leucine to the culture from 70 h to 90 h, the biological titer of bitespiramycin was almost unreduced, and the final relative content of total isovalerylspiramycins increased from 31.1 percent to 46.9 percent.