Noboru Katsuya

Production of l-Glutamic Acid from dl-Hydantoin-5-propionic Acid by Microoganisms: Part I. Screening of l-Glutamic Acid-Producing Microorganisms and Some Optimal Conditions for Production of l-Glutamic Acid

Screening tests for obtaining microorganisms which can produce l-glutamic acid from hydantoin-5-propionic acid were carried out. Many strains of microorganism were found to possess this ability. It was newly found that the glutamic acid produced by these strains was exclusively l-form regardless of the stereochemical configuration of the substrate used.Among the selected strains Bacillus brevis ATCC 8185 showed the highest ability to produce l-glutamic acid.Some investigations for obtaining optimal conditions for producing l-glutamic acid using washed cells of Bacillus brevis ATCC 8185 were carried out. Under the adequate conditions using the reaction mixture containing 1.0% of dl-hydantoin-5-propionic acid, washed cells of this strain converted 90% of the dl-acid to l-glutamic acid.An assumptive pathway of producing L-glutamic acid from D-hydantoin-5-propionic acid was also discussed.