Fig. 1

Schematic representation of main industrial β-lactam production improvement programs of P. chrysogenum. The main lineages of strains subjected to industrial β-lactam production classical strain improvement programs are shown. Strains NRRL1951 (4 mg/gDW), Wisconsin 54-1255 (20 mg/gDW), and DS17690 (95 mg/gDW) examined in this study are shown in red. In brackets the production levels of penicillin V are indicated according to reference [31]. The penicillin cluster free strain DS68530 that no longer produces penicillins is not included but it is derived from strain DS17690 by genetically removing the multiple penicillin biosynthetic gene clusters [28]. When reported, the techniques used for mutagenesis are indicated according to Newbert et al. [8]. Used abbreviations: S, selection of the spontaneous variant; X, X-Ray irradiation; UV, ultraviolet irradiation; NM, nitrogen mustard (methyl-bis(β-chloroethyl) amine) treatment; MG, other molecular genetic manipulations. Also indicated are the periods 1 and 2 followed in this study in order to identify major steps in the CSI