The Effect of Aeration upon the Secondary Metabolism of Microorganisms

Abstract

The authors’ interest in this topic stemmed from earlier observations in these laboratories that the metabolic behaviour of fungi grown in liquid culture was very different, depending on whether they grew, without shaking, as mycelial mats or whether they grew as pellets in shake cultures (Woodhead and Walker, 1975). Culture conditions affected both the yield of secondary metabolites and extracellular enzymes. This review examines more recent work on these topics.