Strain improvement in streptomyces rimosus a producer of oxytetracycline

THE production of oxytetracycline by Streptomyces rimosus NRC 50 and NRC 5034 cultures increased 6.6 and 4.6 fold respectively with respect to the parent strain strepromyces rimosus IMRU 3558 as a result of treatment with mutagens [gamma-irradiation, U.V. light and MnC12] gamma -irradiation and U.V. light exhibited the highest mutagenic effect in increasing the productivity of the antibiotic and producing variants having a modified morphology or pigmentation