Development of a chemically defined medium for the production of the antibiotic platensimycin by Streptomyces platensis

The actinomycete Streptomyces platensis produces two compounds that display antibacterial activity: platensimycin and platencin. These compounds were discovered by the Merck Research Laboratories, and a complex insoluble production medium was reported. We have used this medium as our starting point in our studies. In a previous study, we developed a semi-defined production medium, i.e., PM5. In the present studies, by varying the concentration of the components of PM5, we were able to develop a superior semi-defined medium, i.e., PM6, which contains a higher concentration of lactose. Versions of PM6, containing lower concentrations of all components, were also found to be superior to PM5. The new semi-defined production media contain dextrin, lactose, MOPS buffer, and ammonium sulfate in different concentrations. We determined antibiotic production capabilities using agar diffusion assays and chemical assays via thin-layer silica chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. We reduced crude nutrient carryover from the seed medium by washing the cells with distilled water. Using these semi-defined media, we determined that addition of the semi-defined component soluble starch stimulated antibiotic production and that it and dextrin could both be replaced with glucose, resulting in the chemically defined medium, PM7.