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The Production of Cephalosporin C by Acremonium chrysogenum is Improved by the Intracellular Expression of a Bacterial Hemoglobin

Abstract

A DNA vector for expressing an oxygen-binding heme protein (Vitreoscilla hemoglobin, or VHb) in filamentous fungi was constructed and introduced into a cephalosporin C-producing strain of Acremonium chrysogenum. Expression of VHb in transformants was demonstrated by Western immunoblot analysis and by increased carbon monoxide binding activity of cell extracts. Several VHb-expressing transformants produced significantly higher yields of cephalosporin C than control strains in batch culture experiments. Using the same vector system, VHb was also expressed in the related fungus Penicillium chrysogenum.

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DeModena, J., Gutiérrez, S., Velasco, J. et al. The Production of Cephalosporin C by Acremonium chrysogenum is Improved by the Intracellular Expression of a Bacterial Hemoglobin. Nat Biotechnol 11, 926–929 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0893-926

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