Enhancement of polymyxin B1 production by an artificial microbial consortium of Paenibacillus polymyxa and recombinant Corynebacterium glutamicum producing precursor amino acids

Polymyxin B, produced by Paenibacillus polymyxa, is used as the last line of defense clinically. In this study, exogenous mixture of precursor amino acids increased the level and proportion of polymyxin B1 in the total of polymyxin B analogs of P. polymyxa CJX518-AC (PPAC) from 0.15 g/L and 61.8 % to 0.33 g/L and 79.9 %, respectively. The co-culture of strain PPAC and recombinant Corynebacterium glutamicum-leu01, which produces high levels of threonine, leucine, and isoleucine, increased polymyxin B1 production to 0.64 g/L. When strains PPAC and C. glu-leu01 simultaneously inoculated into an optimized medium with 20 g/L peptone, polymyxin B1 production was increased to 0.97 g/L. Furthermore, the polymyxin B1 production in the co-culture of strains PPAC and C. glu-leu01 increased to 2.21 g/L after optimized inoculation ratios and fermentation medium with 60 g/L peptone. This study provides a new strategy to improve polymyxin B1 production.