Production enhancement of Cyclosporin ‘A’ by Aspergillus terreus through mutation

Abstract

Cyclosporin ‘A’ is an important immunosuppresive drug used in organ and bone marrow transplantations. Nine isolates of Aspergillus terreus was used for the production of Cyclosporin ‘A’ by submerged fermentation in this study. The highest drug yielding isolate FCBP-58 was subjected to both physical and chemical mutation to increase the biosynthetic capabilities of Cyclosporin ‘A’. In this study, mutation was carried out by ultraviolet radiation (254 nm) and alkylating agent ethylmethane sulphonate (EMS). UV 5 min time treatment was proved to be the best treatment because most of the resulted mutants showed enhancement in drug production. Chemical treatment of 200 μg/ml produced best mutants, among which MC 3.2 showed maximum increment of 885% in Cyclosporine ‘A’ production when compared to the parental isolate.

Key words: Cyclosporin ‘A’, Aspergillus terreus, UV radiation, EMS.