Potential of 2-ethylphenylhydrazine as a regulatory mutagene in citric acid bioproduction by Aspergillus oryzae

Citric acid remains one of the most important organic acids in industrial biotechnology, and strain improvement of Aspergillus oryzae is a key route to increase process productivity and costeffectiveness. In this study we evaluated 2- ethylphenylhydrazine as a regulatory mutagen to generate and select A. oryzae NCIM-944 mutants with enhanced citric acid bioproduction. Conidial suspensions of A. oryzae NCIM-944 were treated with graded concentrations of 2-ethylphenylhydrazine under controlled conditions to induce random mutagenesis. In the present communication potential of 2-ethylphenylhydrazine as a regulatory mutagene has been studied. It has been found that the potential of 2-ethylphenyl -hydrazine has stimulatory effect on citric acid bioproduction by Aspergillus oryzae NCIM-944 and enhances the yield of citric acid to an extent of 19.628% higher in comparison to control under optimized conditions.