Studies on high γ-aminobutyric acid-producing monascus purpureus which breeding with heavy ion beam radiation

γ-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) is a kind of nonprotein amino acid, which is reported to antihypertension, tranquilization, improve liver function, prevent obesity and avoid senile dementia, etc., and is an important effective component in health products. In this study, Monascus Purpureus spores were radiated with 96 MeV/u, LET=28.12 keV/μm 12C6+ ion beams. Doses were set as 20, 50 and 80 Gy, respectively. The experiments were run as follows: preparation of monospore suspension → irradiated with heavy ion beam → diluted and spread on dish → screening and stored in inclined plane → shaking culture → GABA extraction → GABA concentration determined by paper chromatography. One stable high productive strain HQ06 was obtained in this study. The content of GABA in HQ06 was 2.50±0.04 mg/ml, 3.7±1.7% higher than that in control (which was 2.41±0.03 mg/ml). Results showed that it is feasible for breeding high GABA producing strains with heavy ion beam radiation, and the heavy ion beam is a kind of effective mutation source. Further studies should be done for breeding much higher productive strains to satisfy the demands of industry. (authors)