Production of Poly-γ-Glutamic Acid by Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis with Different Growth Media

Poly gamma-glutamic acid is a naturally occurring homo-polyamide that is made of D- and L-glutamic acid units connected by amide linkages between alpha-amino and gamma-carboxylic groups. Many strains have been studied for the production of poly gamma-glutamic acid, B. licheniformis 9945a and B. subtilis natto are the two most widely studied strains due to their higher yield. Both of these strains require L-glutamic acid for poly gamma-glutamic acid production. This paper describes investigations on the biosynthesis of poly gamma-glutamic acid by B. licheniformis 9945a and B. subtilis natto in an automated pH-controlled fermenter. The effect of the growth media such as medium E, F, C and GS was investigated. Medium E produced poly gamma-glutamic acid both with and without MnSO4 in the medium when fermented by B. licheniformis. Presence of MnSO4 in the medium affected both the yield and biomass production. The yield was 12 g/l for the medium containing 2.46 mM MnSO4 whereas it was only 4-5 g/l for the medium without MnSO4 with molecular weight (M-w) of 321,000. Different media such as medium C, F and GS were used for production of poly gamma-glutamic acid by B. subtilis natto. The yield from GS medium was highest and it produced about 26-28 g/l with molecular weight (M-w) of 627,000.