Effect of Preservation Methods on Maintaining Productivity of Actinomycete Metabolites and Enzymic Activity PartI : Difference Between the Maintenance of Viability and Biological Activities

Abstract

It is of supreme importance for better utilization of microbes in various fields to establish simple methods for maintaining not only the viability but also their biological activities for as long period as possible. Aiming eventually at obtaining a consolidated empirical rule for better preservation, the efficiency of various preservation methods was compared on the maintenance in productivity of such antibiotics as fumaramidmycin, pyrrothines, netropsin, actinomycins, etc., and in microbial resolution capability of Streptomyces strains with that of viability. Microbial resolution studied here includes the enantiospecific dehydrogenation of α-hydroxy acids and hydrolysis of Z-p-hydroxyphenylglycine. Results obtained confirmed a low correlation between viability loss and the decrease in the biological activities in general and a big difference among individual strains.