Assessing the Potential of an Induced-Mutation Strategy for Avermectin Overproducers

Abstract

Mutant libraries of avermectin-producing Streptomyces avermitilis strains were constructed by different mutagenesis strategies. A metric was applied to assess the mutation spectrum by calculating the distribution of average phenotypic distance of each population. The results showed for the first time that a microgravity environment could introduce larger phenotype distribution and diversity than UV and N -methyl- N -nitro- N -nitrosoguanidine (NTG) could.