Abstract

CYCLOSPORIN A PRODUCTION BY GENETICALLY IMPROVED FUSANTS OF TOLYPOCLADIUM INFLATUM

Khattab A.A.  and I..S Abd-Elsalam*

Abstract

Cyclosporin A (CsA) is an important immunosuppressive drug used in organ and bone marrow transplantation. The production of CsA is accomplished by some imperfect fungi especially Tolypocladium inflatum strains by submerged fermentation. Protoplast fusion had been applied to increase the productivity of CsA. Through antifungal and heavy metal resistance markers, only two superior mutants were forced to protoplasts and intra-specific protoplast fusion between them was achieved. The results showed that the most fusants used showed remarkable higher productivity of CsA than the original strain. The superior fusant was F-11 which produced 92.70 mg/L compared to the original strain which produced 55.75 mg/L.

Keywords: Tolypocladium, CyclosporinA, protoplast fusion.