Utilization of Fermentation Process for Production of Two Popular Classes of Antibiotics

Abstract

The gradual resistance to existing antibiotics can be overcome with the use or clinical testing of novel natural products as continuing source of chemical diversity. Often natural products are difficult to be synthesized commercially by chemical methods since their structures are very complex with a number of asymmetric centers. Microbial fermentation remains the only way to isolate wide range of antibiotics. In this article, authors discuss about the production process of two popular classes of antibiotics, cephalosporins and glycopeptides, utilizing fermentation techniques. Yield and quality of the active pharmaceutical ingredient can be improved by using genetically engineered strains and supplying proper nutrition to the fermentation media.