Isolation and Regeneration of P0rotoplast in Streptomyces antibioticus

The present study has been perromed to investigate the optimal conditions for protoplast formation and regeneration of oleandomycin-producing Streptomyces antibioticus (S. antibioticus) KCTC 1081. Mycelia were grown in YME medium containing 0.2% (w/v) glycine and converted into the protoplast by incubating at 35.deg.C for 60 minutes in protoplast buffer (P buffer) containing 4 mg/ml lysozyme. The reversion of protoplasts to the normal filamentous state was examined by the growth on various synthetic agar media. A high reversion rate was obtained by incubating the protoplasts on a hypertonic agar medium containing 20 mM $Mg^{++}$, 5 mM $Ca^{++}$ and 0.3 M sucrose at 28.deg.C for 5 days. From these experiments, we established the improved regeneration medium and a protocol which supports higher and more consistent levels of regeneration of S. antibioticus protoplasts. The regenerant showed an increased antimicrobial activity compared with that of the initial strain.n.n.