Inhibitory Effect of Fungistatic Antibiotics on the Production of Amylase by Penicillium chrysogenum

Abstract

THE washed mycelium of Penicillium chrysogenum is able to synthesize amylase in the presence of starch. The production of this enzyme starts after 4 hr. incubation independently of the original carbohydrate content of the medium. 150–250 u. enzyme/100 ml. will be produced during further incubation for the next 4–6 hr. This enzyme production was inhibited by 2,4-dinitrophenol (3 × 10⁻⁴ M) and sodium azide (10⁻⁴ M), but was not influenced by streptomycin (2,000 µgm./ml.), chloramphenicol (200 μgm./ml.) or oxytetracycline (500 μgm./ml.). The effect of the fungistatic antibiotics on the production of the enzyme was examined under experimental conditions identical with those previously reported¹. Aqueous dilutions of solution of the fungistatic substances in methanol were added to the incubated mixture. Amylase was determined by the method of Smith and Roe²; the results (Table 1) show that production of this enzyme is very sensitive to the presence of the substances mentioned above.