Effect of Magnesium Sulfate on Product Inhibition of Sisomicin Production

Addition of l00mM $MgSO_4$ to a cell culture after 54 hours resulted in a 2.4-fold increase in the sisomicin titre compared to a control to which no $MgSO_4$ was added, and a considerable amount of intracellular sisomicin was liberated outside the cells. The occurrence of product inhibition in fermentation was confirmed by a reduction in net sisomicin production with increasing amounts of added sisomicin without addition of $MgSO_4$. All added sisomicin was bound to sisomicin-free cells in the absence of $MgSO_4$, whereas approximately 40% of added sisomicin was bound with the addition of l00mM $MgSO_4$. Under conditions of no enzmye synthesis, maintained by adding chloramphenicol to exclude product repression, sisomicin was produced in the presence of 100 mM $MgSO_4$ but little sisomicin was produced in the absence of $MgSO_4$.