Study of catalase production by an Aspergillus phoenicis mutant strain in date flour extract submerged cultures

• Main Authors: Thonart P., Destain J., Maraihi Z., Kacem-Chaouche N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Presses Agronomiques de Gembloux 2005-01-01
• Series: Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Société et Environnement
• Subjects: Aspergillus phoenicis; catalase; date flour; fungal morphology; mutant
• Online Access: http://www.pressesagro.be/base/text/v9n3/173.pdf
• ISSN: 1370-6233; 1780-4507

The production of extracellular catalase in date flour submerged medium by a selected mutant Aspergillus phoenicis K30 (member of the Aspergillus niger group) was nvestigated. The strain was tested in 500 ml shake-flasks and in a 20 l bioreactor with date powder as a single carbon source. Extracellular catalase production reached 59 U ml-1 in both cases. This value is much greater than that of a wild-type strain (9.5 U ml-1). Microscopic examination showed that the extracellular catalase production was correlated with the ramified hyphals morphology in the external layer of the pellets.