BIOSYNTHESIS OF BACITRACIN IN STIRRED FERMENTER BY BACILLUS LICHENIFORMIS USING DEFATTED OIL SEED CAKES AS SUBSTRATE

Abstract

The present study is concerned with the biosynthesis of antibiotic Bacitracin by Bacillus licheniformis on laboratory to scale up studies in Stirred Fermenter using defatted oil seed cakes of agricultural bye-products as starting material for maximum production of the antibiotic Bacitracin. In stirred fermenter, antibiotic formation reached maximum (342 i.u. ml-1), 30 hours after inoculation at 37ºC using different natural media such as defatted soybean meal, glucose and metal ions. Bacitracin is being imported in Pakistan involving substantial amount of foreign exchange for its incorporation in poultry feed. The raw material for its production is readily available and cheap such as soybean meal, sunflower meal & wheat bran. Thus development of this technology in our country would result in saving a reasonable amount of foreign exchange by utilizing our resources.