Culture production, monascus pigment submerged cultures

Many secondary metabolites with complex chemical structures, including pigments (Figure 2) and monacolins (Figure 2), are synthesized from the polyketide pathway in Monascus spp. (Simpson, 1986). Several effectors controlling the polyketide synthesis of Monascus have been reported by using submerged culture systems (Lin, 1991). Considerable research has been conducted on the industrial production of Monascus in complex liquid media (Shepherd and Carels, 1983). 

Yoshimura, M., Yamanada, S., Mitsugi, K., and Hirose, Y. 1975. Production of Monascus pigment in a submerged culture. Agric. Biol. Chem. 39,1789-1795. 

Carels, M. and Shepherd, D. 1977. The effect of different nitrogen sources on pigment production and sporulation of Monascus species in submerged, shaken culture. Can. J. Microbiol. 23(10), 1360-1372. 

---