[The concentration dynamics of inorganic polyphosphates during the cephalosporin C synthesis by Acremonium...

The contents of five fractions of energy-rich inorganic polyphosphates (polyPs), ATP, and H(+)-ATPase activity in the plasma membrane were determined in a low-activity cephalosporin C (cephC) producer Acremonium chrysogenum ATCC 11550 and selected highly efficient producer strain 26/8 grown on glucose or a synthetic medium providing for active synthesis of this antibiotic. It was shown that strain 26/8 on the synthetic medium produced 26-fold higher amount of cephC as compared with strain ATCC 11550. This was accompanied by a drastic decrease in the cell contents of ATP and the high-molecular-weight fractions polyP2, polyP3, and polyPS with a concurrent increase in the low-molecular-weight fraction polyP1. These data suggest that polyPs are involved in the cephC synthesis as a source of energy. H(+)-ATPase activity insignificantly changed at both low and high levels of cephC production. This confirms the assumption that A. chrysogenum has other alternative antibiotic transporters in addition to cefT. The obtained results can be used for optimizing commercial-scale cephC biosynthesis.