screening of lovastatin production by filamentous fungi

in the present study, 110 fungal strains of persian type culture collection (ptcc) including some selected strains isolated in various screening projects were tested for their potentiality to produce lovastatin, a competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coa reductase (hmg-coa reduc-tase), the rate-limiting enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis. the fungal strains were cultivated in a two-stage submerged fermentation followed by screening by tlc. all positive results were evaluated by confirmatory hplc. nine species of four genera were found to be lovastatin producers. aspergillus terreus was the best lovastatin producing strain with a level of 55 mg lovastatin per liter of screening production medium