Isolation and characterization of a mutant of Pseudomonas aureofaciens ATCC 15926 with an increased capacity for synthesis of pyrrolnitrin.

A mutant having a 30-fold increased ability to synthesize pyrrolnitrin was isolated from Pseudomonas aureofaciens ATCC 15926 after mutagenesis with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. The mutant strain also differed from the parent strain in pigmentation and in its inability to catabolize anthranilic acid and the benzene moiety of tryptophan and kynurenine.