Strain improvement of Lactobacillus delbrueckii using nitrous acid mutation for l-lactic acid production

Insertional mutagenesis is impractical in the mechanisms for protection against low pH, high solute concentration etc. due to the involvement of large number of loci and multiple genes. An attempt was made to improve Lactobacillus delbrueckii NCIM 2025 strain by classical mutation using nitrous acid. In the present investigation, classical mutation was proved to be successful and the selected mutants had improved qualities like increased lactic acid productivity, acid tolerance and sugar tolerance. Mutants showed better growth rate and lesser generation time than the wild type.