EFFECT OF GLUCOSE ON AGARASE OVERPRODUCTION BY STREPTOMYCES

The Streptomyces coelicolor dagA gene, coding for an extracellular agarase, has been propagated on a multicopy plasmid in S. coelicolor A3(2), the natural agarase producer strain and in S. lividans TK21, a closely related, nonproducer strain. The effect of the carbon source on the production of agarase by both strains, upon cultivation in liquid medium, revealed that the glucose repression affected the synthesis of agarase at the level of secretion, rather than at the level of transcription. In the presence of glucose, the pre-agarase was degraded intracellularly and the overall secretion of proteases decreased considerably in both strains, suggesting a negative regulatory role for glucose in the overall secretion in Streptomyces.