Phenotype and expression profile of S. erythraea rifampicin-resistant (rif) mutants affected in erythromycin production

In this study we have used the rifampicin selection as a tool to genetically improve the erythromycin producer Saccharopolyspora erythraea. Two rifampicin-resistant (rif) mutants, rif1 and rif6, have been characterized in more detail. With respect to the parental strain NRRL2338, rif1 (harboring the missense S444F) exhibited higher respiratory performance and final erythromycin yields; in contrast, rif6 (harboring the missense Q426R) was slow-growing, developmental-defective and severely impaired in erythromycin production. The results of genome-wide analysis of expression profiles using DNA micro-arrays demonstrated that these mutations deeply changed the transcriptional profile of S. erythraea with marked regional distribution. Keywords: mutants versus wild type comparison in a time course experiment Total of 12 Samples