[Optimization of the medium and cultivation conditions of Penicillium roquefortii f39 producing the diketopiperazine alkaloid roquefortine]. / Optimizatsiia sredy i uslovii kul'tivirovaniia Penicillium roquefortii f39--produtsenta diketopiperazinovogo alkaloida rokefortina.

We optimized the medium for cultivation of Penicillium roquefortii f39, a producer of roquefortine. In this medium, the roquefortine yield increased 1.5-2-fold. The increase in roquefortine content was associated with high biomass yield, but not with an increase in biosynthetic activity of the mycelium. Direct correlation was found between extracellular roquefortine concentration and amount of the inoculum. The introduction of sucrose into the growth medium allowed us to increase the concentration of roquefortine during fermentation to 90 mg/l.

[Factors contributing to roquefortine yield variability during cultivation of penicillium roquefortii]. / Prichiny nestabil'nogo vyshoda rokefortina pri kul'tivirovanii Penicillium roquefortii.

Variability in the roquefortine yield was shown to be associated with its consumption by the mycelium during isolation of the end product, which depended on temperature, time of culture liquid storage, and biomass concentration. This was also related to the presence in chloroform of chlorocarbonic acid ethyl ester that reacted with roquefortine.

[Use of polymerase chain reaction for searching for producers of ergot alkaloids from among microscopic fungi]. / Ispol'zovanie polimeraznoi tsepnoi reaktsii dlia poiska produtsentov érgoalkaloidov sredi mikroskopicheskikh gribov.

The potential of the polymerase chain reaction for the detection of ergot alkaloid producers among microscopic fungi of the genera Penicillium and Claviceps was evaluated. Twenty-three strains of various species of fungi with a previously studied capacity for alkaloid production were used. The internal fragment of the gene encoding 4-dimethylallyltryptophan synthase, the enzyme catalyzing the first step in the biosynthesis of ergot alkaloids, was amplified using degenerated primers. This approach revealed an about 1.2-kb specific DNA fragment in micromycetes synthesizing ergot alkaloids with complete tetracyclic ergoline system. Microorganisms that produce alkaloids with modified C or D ergoline rings, as well as alpha-cyclopiazonic acid, did not yield the PCR fragment of the expected size. This fragment was also not found in fungi incapable of ergot alkaloid production.

[Minor alkaloids from the fungus Penicillium roquefortii Thom 1906]. / Minornye alkaloidy gribov Penicillum roquefortii Thom 1906.

New spatial of clavine alkaloids, distinguished by low chromatographical mobility, have been isolated from the collection and mutant strain of Penicillium roquefortii, in addition to alkaloids roquefortine, 3,12-dihydroroquefortine, isofumigaclavines A and B, festuclavine, and chanoclavine-I, characteristic of this fungal species. In has been shown that the collection strain produces isomers of agroclavine and epoxyagroclavine, and the mutant strain produces isomers of fumigaclavines A and B, festuclavine, and chanoclavine.

[Effect of the mutation process on formation of alkaloids in Penicillium roquefortii BKM F-141 and P. fellutanum BKM F-1073]. / Vliianie mutatsionnogo protsessa na obrazovanie alkaloidov u Penicillium roquefortii BKM F-141 i P. fellutanum BKM F-1073.

Mutant strains of Penicillium roquefortii VKM F-141 and P. Fellutanum VKM F-1073 were obtained by mutagenesis induced by ultraviolet irradiation, N-methyl-N-nitronitrosoguanidine and bromouracil. By the rates of alkaloid production, the mutant strains can be divided into three groups: 1) unable to synthesize alkaloids; 2) with a high rate of biosynthesis; 3) with changed alkaloid composition. Compounds not characteristic of wild-type cultures were found in alkaloid fractions of some mutant strains.