Strain construction for enhanced production of spinosad via intergeneric protoplast fusion
Spinosad is a new class of insecticides produced by Saccharopolyspora spinosa . The aim of this study was to construct a starch-utilizing strain that overproduced spinosad by intergeneric fusion between S. spinosa and Streptomyces avermitilis . Protoplast fusion is an important technique for engineering microbial strains, especially for microorganisms with few available molecular genetic tools. Protoplast fusion was conducted with UV-irradiated protoplasts of S. spinosa and S. avermitilis. Among 76 recombinants screened by ESI-MS and HPLC, a starch-utilizing strain F17, identified as S. spinosa, was obtained. The yield of spinosad in F17 was increased by 447.22%, compared with the yield of the wild-type strain. This is the first report of intergeneric protoplast fusion between S. spinosa and S. avermilitis, which shows great potential for industrial applications.