A report on Penicillium chrysogenum

ENGBIO1

Ngan, Charles Ivan L.

Soriano, Elijah Jeremie D.

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I. Description of Microorganism
Penicillium chrysogenum (P. chrysogenum) or formerly known as Penicillium
notatum is a well-studied species of Penicillium that belongs to the family of
Trichocomaceae (Samson et al., 1977). P. chrysogenum can sometimes be referred to as
P. meleagrinum, or P. cyaneofulvum (Samson et al., 1977) though they differ in some
applications (Fierro et al., 1993). P. chrysogenum plays a substantial role in the medical
community for the reason that it can produce penicillin, the first ever antibiotic that has
been widely known as the miracle drug that saves countless lives during the World War
II. P. chrysogenum eventually started the age of modern medicine and has made a huge
impact in human lives. Penicillin is a β-Lactam antibiotic that obstructs the production of
peptidoglycan cross-links in the cell walls of bacteria, thus the cell wall weakens during
division causing osmotic imbalance in the cell that will eventually cause the cell to burst
(Fleming, 1929). In some cases, P. chrysogenum can also become a pathogen, an
allergen, and also aid in protecting crops from certain pathogenic attacks (Adrian et al.,
2005; Galland, et al., 2004; Shen, et al., 2003).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillium_chrysogenum#/media/File:Penici https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Penicillium_
llium_notatum.jpg chrysogenum

Figure 1.2: Conidiospores and the

Figure 1.1: Penicillium chrysogenum in a broth culture
filamentous hyphase of Penicillium
media
chrysogenum

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 The genus Penicillium was first described in 1809 by Johann Friedrich Link in his
scientific literature entitled Observationes in ordines plantarum naturales, mentioning
the term “Penicillium” which was referred to “pencil-like” (Visagie, et al., 2014).
Similarly, other species of the Penicillium, P. chrysogenum usually reproduces by
constructing dry chains of spores from brush-shaped condiospores (Samson et al., 2010).

Penicillium chrysogenum is a ubiquitous soil fungus that is commonly found to

exist in temperate and cool environment with plentiful quantities of organic materials. P.
chrysogenum can also thrive in low humidity environments which allows them to
colonize not only stored food products, but also often grow in indoor environments (Jka,
et al., 1992). P. chrysogenum is one of the most common indoor molds together with
Cladosporium, Aspergillus, and Alternaria (CDC, 2017).

II. Specific Growth Media

Generally, microorganisms requires micronutrients such as O, C, H, N, and S for
cell growth and maintenance. Moreover, microorganisms might also require some small
amounts of trace elements such as Co, Cu, and Mn and for some instance, growth factors
such as amino acids and vitamins are also necessary to maximize the metabolite yield
(Singh et al., 2017). Medium preparation is necessary as it generally involves the use of
the microorganism to achieve their products. The medium contains the nutrients that are
necessary for the Penicillium fungus to grow. Most penicillins form filamentous broth
therefore it is difficult to mix due to their high viscosity. Also, the increase in the
viscosity of the broth can hinders the transfer of oxygen molecules. Penicilliums are
aerobic organisms therefore oxygen supply is critical thus the reactor must have sufficient
supply of oxygen to the system. Also, pH level affects the growth of the species;
optimum pH for penicillin would be 6.5. Lactose is usually the main source of carbon
however; glucose or sucrose may also be used. For the nitrogen source, Ammonium
sulphate, ammonium acetate or ammonium lactate could be used. As for the mineral
source, corn steep liquor (CSL) is typically used because it contains amino acids,
vitamins, and other minerals that could also increase the growth of the species

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 significantly. According to the study of Pirt & Righelato (1967), the synthetic medium
M4 they used consisted of (grams per liter): glucose, 2.3 X mycelial dry weight required;

III. Growth Curve in a Specific Substrate

Table 3.1 Summary of kinetic parameters of P.chrysogenum grown on glucose

Parameter Initial Estimate Final Estimate
-1
µmax 0.139 h 0.103 h-1
Kc 0.135 0.145
-1
Y 0.400 g g 0.445 g g-1

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 Figure 3.1 Microbial growth and substrate depletion curves for P.chrysogeum grown on
glucose

Goudar, C. T., & Strevett, K. A. (1998). Estimating growth kinetics of Penicillium chrysogenum by nonlinear
regression. Biochemical Engineering Journal,1(3), 191-199. doi:10.1016/s1369-703x(98)00002-3

IV. Industrial Application of Microorganism

The main industrial application of Penicillium Chrysogenum is in the production
of the antibiotic Penicillin. According to (ACS, nd), Anti-infection agents are mixes
created by microorganisms and organisms which are equipped for slaughtering, or
repressing, contending microbial species. It was not until 1928 that penicillin was
founded by Alexander Fleming a Professor of Bacteriology at St. Mary's Hospital in
London. Coming back from vacation on September 3, 1928, Fleming started to deal with
petri dishes containing groups of Staphylococcus, microscopic organisms that results
different illness. He saw something abnormal on one dish. It was specked with groups;
put something aside for one region where a blob of mold was developing. The area
around the growing mold was seen to be very clear as if the mold was producing some
kind of fluids to inhibit bacterial growth. The growing mold was later discovered as a
strain of Penicillium notatum, the former name of Penicillium Chrysogenum. Fleming
found that his "mold juice" was equipped for executing an extensive variety of unsafe

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 Retrieve from Retrieve from https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-
https://www.infobioquimica.com/new/2016/12/12/penicillin-allergy/ affairs/story/first-antibiotic-penicillin-265204-2015-09-28
Figure 4.1: Penicillin tables Figure 4.2: Chemical structure of penicillin

Until the current days, penicillin is still widely use to cure different kinds ailments
ranging from skin sores to internal infections. Despite the advance technology now a
days, the discovery of the fundi P.chrysogenum by Alexander Fleming to produce
penicillin is still one of the greatest discoveries in the field of microbiology.

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V. References

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