Study of growth and biosynthetic features of saprophytic Claviceps purpurea lines in submerged culture

In our days, much attention is paid to saprophytic strains-producers of ergot alkaloids and the development of technologies for their production by submerged cultivation. Using UV-induced mutagenesis and subsequent selection, the saprophytic lines of the fungus Claviceps purpurea were selected, characterized by the ability to grow and synthesize indole derivatives of an alkaloid nature in a submerged culture. The studying the morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics of the obtained lines of the fungus C. purpurea in media Tg and T25, showed that the culture of the fungus is a suspension of mycelium, consisting of a nutrient substrate and loose spherical colonies of various sizes. The center of the colonies is slightly compacted, from their edges branching out in different directions of the liquid nutrient substrate hyphae. When the fungus was cultivated in a Tg medium, the color of the mycelium was milky white, the formation of conidia and the synthesis of indole derivatives of an alkaloid nature were not observed. In medium T25, the initially milky white color of the culture liquid turned beige during cultivation, and by the end of fermentation it acquired a lilac hue. The color of the 20-day-old wet mycelium was also pigmented and acquired a lilac shade of varying intensity. From 12 to 14 days of cultivation, the formation of colorless oval conidia with rounded ends was observed in the culture liquid. The synthesis of indole derivatives of an alkaloid nature began on the 9th day of cultivation and reached the maximum level on the 19th day of the growth of the fungus. We also found that line No. 2 accumulates more mycelium and the level of synthesis of secondary metabolites in this line is slightly higher than in line No. 1, which allows us to carry out further breeding work on the construction of an industrially significant saprophytic strain-producer of ergoalkaloids (EA), select line number 2.

ergot, ergot alkaloids, mycelium, culture liquid, submerged culture