Genetic analysis of erythromycin production in Streptomyces erythreus

Streptomyces erythreus produces the 14-membered macrolide antibiotic erythromycin A. The properties of erythromycin A nonproducing mutants and their genetic linkage to chromosomal markers were used to establish the rudiments of genetic organization of antibiotic production. Thirty-three Ery- mutants, produced by mutagenesis of S. erythreus NRRL 2338 and affecting the formation of the macrolactone and deoxysugar intermediates of erythromycin A biosynthesis, were classified into four phenotypically different groups based on their cosynthesis behavior, the type of biosynthetic intermediate accumulated, and their ability to biotransform known biochemical intermediates of erythromycin A. Demonstration of the occurrence of natural genetic recombination during conjugal mating in S. erythreus enabled comparison of the genetic linkage relationships of three different ery mutations with seven other markers on a simple chromosome map. This established a chromosomal location for the ery mutations, which appear to be located in at least two positions within one interval of the map.