Effect of ferrous ion on ε-poly-L-lysine biosynthesis by Streptomyces diastatochromogenes CGMCC3145

ε-Poly-L-lysine (ε-PL) is known as an amino acid homopolymer occurring in nature. It is mainly produced by bacteria belonging to the family of Streptomycetaceae. In this study, the effect of ferrous ion on the metabolic pathway such as key enzyme activities and substrate consumptions relating to ε-PL production were investigated. When 0.1 mM Fe(2+) was supplemented into the culture medium of Streptomyces diastatochromogenes CGMCC3145 for 72 h of cultivation, the yield of ε-PL and biomass were enhanced by 29.2 and 41.9%, respectively, compared with those of the control. Synchronously, consumptions of glucose, ammoniac nitrogen, and phosphorus were increased by 50, 67.6, and 35.7%, respectively. The enzyme activity measurements showed that the specific activities of proteinase, phosphatase, glutamate dehydrogenase, and aspartate aminotransferase activities were improved for 2.32, 3.68, 1.72, and 1.50 folds, respectively, however, aspartokinase and ε-PL synthetase were hardly affected by ferrous ion. These results manifested that Fe(2+) can improve the yield of ε-PL by promoting aspartate production, and the aspartate was further catalyzed to produce much more L-lysine, precursor for ε-PL biosynthesis.