Production of natural blue pigment by marine Streptomyces from Jiaozhou Bay

More than 300 marine Streptomyces were isolated from Jiaozhou Bay, 3 percent of which can produce natural blue pigment. Streptomyces sp. M259 strain which can highly produce blue pigment was studied. It can be cultured in the media of M2+,Gao’s number 1,bennett and it has strong anti-bacteria activity to Pseudomonas areuginosa and Crytococcal meningitis. The physiological characteristics showed that it can utilize D-Glucose, D-Mannitol,Maltose,Sucrose,Starch,Glycerol,D-Galactose,Fructose,Arabinose,Inositol,Xylose,D-Mannose and most of nitrogen resources.The result told us that it belonged to the blue group and related to Streptomyces cyanogenus and Streptomyces ceolicolor.The properties of the blue pigment were studied. The results showed that the blue pigment has no odor and is well dissolved in water or methanol. The color of the pigment is red in the acidic condition and blue in the alkaline condition. The composition of fermentation medium and cultural conditions for M259 producing blue pigment were studied and optimized.