Transfigured Morphology and Ameliorated Production of Six Monascus Pigments by Acetate Species Supplementation in Monascus ruber M7

Monascus species have been used for the production of many industrially and medically important metabolites, most of which are polyketides produced by the action of polyketide synthases that use acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA as precursors, and some of them are derived from acetate. In this study the effects of acetic acid, and two kinds of acetates, sodium acetate and ammonium acetate at different concentrations (0.1%, 0.25% and 0.5%) on the morphologies, biomasses, and six major Monascus pigments (MPs) of M. ruber M7 were investigated when M7 strain was cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 28 °C for 4, 8, 12 days. The results showed that all of the added acetate species significantly affected eight above-mentioned parameters. In regard to morphologies, generally the colonies transformed from a big orange fleecy ones to a small compact reddish ones, or a tightly-packed orange ones without dispersed mycelia with the increase of additives concentration. About the biomass, addition of ammonium acetate at 0.1% increased the biomass of M. ruber M7. With respect to six MPs, all acetate species can enhance pigment production, and ammonium acetate has the most significant impacts. Production of monascin and ankaflavin had the highest increase of 11.7-fold and 14.2-fold in extracellular contents at the 8th day when 0.1% ammonium acetate was supplemented into PDA. Intracellular rubropunctatin and monascorubrin contents gained 9.6 and 6.46-fold at the 8th day, when 0.1% ammonium acetate was added into PDA. And the extracellular contents of rubropunctamine and monascorubramine were raised by 1865 and 4100-fold at the 4th day when M7 grew on PDA with 0.5% ammonium acetate.