[Effect of amino acids on the growth of a B. polymyza 1538 culture and the biosynthesis of polymyxin B].

The effect of a number of the most important amino acids on the growth of B. polymyxa 1538 and polymyxin B biosynthesis was studied. It was found that all of the amino acids tested except D-L-threonin and L-alpha-gamma-DABA inhibited the initial growth of the organism. D-L-threonine and L-alpha-gamma-DABA had some stimulating effect on the culture growth without affecting the final accumulation of the biomass. The antibiotic synthesis proceeded more vigorously when the medium contained D-L-threonine, L-alpha-gamma-DABA, L-asparagine, L-proline, L-glutamine, D-L-asparaginic acid and L-glutamic acid in the concentrations tested. Neither of the tested amino acids used alone or in combination provided the levels of polymyxin B biosynthesis observed on the media containing rich sources of organic nitrogen.