Studies on metabolites produced by facultative methanol-oxidizing bacteria. Enhancement of coenzyme Q10 accumulation by mutation and effects of medium components on the formation of coenzyme Q homologs by Pseudomonas N842 and mutants.

Abstract

Mutation of Pseudomonas N842 was carried out to increase CoQ10 production. The productivity of CoQ10 was improved considerably by repeated mutation, and the content of CoQ10 per unit cell of the fifth generation mutant was approximately 6 times that of the wild strain, Pseudomonas N842. CoQ11, which was hardly detectable in the wild strain, increased significantly by mutation, and the ratio of CoQ11 to total CoQ exceeded 20 % in the fourth generation mutant. Intermittent feeding of glucose to the culture medium during cultivation increased cell yield and CoQ production. When total glucose added was 5 times that of basal medium, cell yield and CoQ formation respectively increased about 3 and 4 times.