RESUMO
Serratia marcescens (GBB151) was isolated and genetically modified for high-yielding pigment production capacitythat could be employed for industrial purposes. Ethidium bromide-induced mutagenesis of GBB151 resulted inthe generation of eight mutant isolates (GBB151Ea-GBB151Eh). The chemical mutants of S. marcescens obtainedproduced 5-fold more pigment than the wild-type organism. The wild-type GBB151 produced 413.9 unit/cell,while the mutant strains produced pigments with yields ranging from 841.7 to 2008.5 unit/cell. Random amplifiedpolymorphic deoxyribonucleic acid-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed different amplicons patterns of nativeas well as mutant derivatives. The factorial analysis diagram and the dendrogram showed a degree of dissimilarityamong the wild-type bacterial isolate GBB151 and its mutants. Mutant strains GBB151Ec and GBB151Ef wereclosest to the wild type as they appeared in the same quadrant. GBB151Ed which had lost its ability to producepigment was farthest and in the different quadrant to the wild type. These study provided insight into improvement inpigment production by manipulating genetic make-up of S. marcescens, thus meeting industrial demand.