[Variability of Aureobasidium pullulans (de Bary) Arnaud induced by N-nitrosomethylurea]

The effect of nitrosomethylurea (NMU) at concentrations of 0.2 to 1.0 on Aureobasidium pullulans, strain 8, producing the polysaccharide glucan was studied. The doses of mutagen with the survival of the cells from 0.02 to 8.9% caused high morphological variability of the microorganism and favoured the production of the polysaccharide. The moderate action of the mutagen (0.5% of NMU for three hours) with the survival of the cells about 1.0% was found to be most optimal for the induction of variants with the increased production of glucan.