Enhancement of Avermectin Production by Introduction of a Foreign Regulatory Gene in Streptomyces avermitilis

Production of eight avermectin components was improved in Streptomyces avermitilis wild type strain (ATCC31267) and high producing mutant strain (ATCC31780) when transformed with a foreign regulatory gene, afsR2 of Streptomyces lividans. Wild type and the high producing strain of S. avermitilis transformed with multiple copies of afsR2 improved total avermectin productions by 2.3 fold and 1.5 fold, respectively. In both of wild type and the high producing transformants carrying afsR2, glycerol was proved to be the best carbon source for the stimulation of avermectin production.