S-adenosyl-L-methionine production by an ergosterol-deficient mutant of Scheffersomyces stipitis

S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM, SAMe; AdoMet) is an important methyl donor in many reactions, and recently has attracted much attention due to its expanding application in pharmacy. Efficient ways of its production have been widely researched. In this study it was demonstrated that erg6 mutant of yeast Scheffersomyces stipitis (former Pichia stipitis), obtained by UV mutagenesis and selected by resistance to nystatin, could be used for production of SAM. The mutant strain showed higher ability to accumulate SAM than its parental strain. The experiments demonstrated different dependence of erg6 mutant strain on several cultivation conditions in comparison to parental strain, its higher sensibility to oxidative stress, as well as strong dependence of SAM accumulation on the cell growth phase and supplementation of growth media with methionin