Production of peptide alkaloids in submerged culture by a strain of Claviceps purpurea(Fr.) Tul.

Abstract

THE production of lysergic acid α-ethoxy amide in submerged culture by a strain of Claviceps paspali Stev. et Hall was reported earlier1–3. The present communication describes the production of ergotamine in submerged culture by a strain of Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul. isolated from a sclerotium found in Spain on a variety of Triticale (an artificial hybrid between wheat and rye). This strain (IC/39/20 of the collection of the Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London), unlike other strains of Claviceps purpurea, does not produce conidia in any of the media tested. The colonies grown on agar are grey-white and show in cross-section a typical plectenchymatic structure like that of a true sclerotium. As with Claviceps paspali, the mycelium of this strain grown in submerged culture has a cellular structure similar to that of a natural sclerotium. Ergotamine production in submerged culture occurred in a culture medium of high osmotic pressure of the following composition: Mannitol 20 per cent; peptone-Difco 3 per cent; tap water; final pH 6.2. The culture medium was sterilized for 30 min at 110°C. Cotton-wool plugged 500-ml. Erlenmeyer flasks containing 100 ml. of culture medium were used on a rotary shaker at 24° C (200 r.p.m., eccentric throw 10 cm). After 8–10 days the total alkaloid content from the broth and mycelium ranged from 800 to 1,400 µg/ml. (calculated as ergotamine). Chromatographic analysis of the alkaloids extracted from the culture medium showed ergotamine to be the principal component present.