GB820422A - Production of cephalosporin by fermentation - Google Patents

Abstract

Cephalosporin is produced by culturing a cephalosporin-producing-Cephalosporium in a liquid nutrient medium containing an active proportion (i.e. such as produces an increased yield of cephalosporin compared with that produced in the same medium without the added compound) of a non-toxic alkali metal derivative giving an ion in the fermentation medium of formula SmOnwherein m stands for 1 or 2 and n stands for 3, 4 or 5. Specified compounds are alkali metal salts, e.g. sodium sulphite, sodium metabisulphite, sodium sulphate, sodium thiosulphate, sodium hydrosulphite and the corresponding potassium salts; sodium formaldehyde sulphoxylate. It is present in the medium in quantities equivalent to 5 to 50 milligrams of sulphur per 100 millilitres of medium. Sodium thiosulphate is used in quantities of 0.02 to 0.2 and especially 0.04% N/V; sodium sulphite at the rate of 0.05% W/V; sodium hydrosulphite at the rate of 0.028% W/V; and sodium metabisulphite at a rate of 0.04% W/V. The medium contains a source of (a) organic nitrogen such as fish meal, meat meal, meat extract, casein, dried autolysed yeast, malt extract, urea, soyabean meal, corn meal or corn steep liquor, and (b) carbon, e.g. sucrose and/or lactose and ammonium acetate. The preferred medium contains corn steep liquor, sucrose, ammonium acetate and water. The inoculum is Cephalosporium IMI 49137 or a mutant obtained by exposing this organism to ultra-violet light. Specification 759,624 is referred to.