NOVEL BILE ACID-CONVERTING MICROORGANISM

摘要

Bacillus sp. TTUR 302 which belongs to the genus Bacillus and is capable of converting bile acids having a 7 alpha -hydroxyl group or a 7-keto group into bile acids having a 7 beta -hydroxyl group; and a process for producing bile acids having a 7 beta -hydroxyl group which comprises incubating this microorganism in an enriched medium containing bile acids having a 7 alpha -hydroxyl group or a 7-keto group and collecting the formed bile acids having a 7 beta -hydroxyl group (ursodeoxycholic acid, etc.). The process is easy to operate and safe as compared with the conventional chemical synthesis methods. It is also superior to the conventional microbial methods particularly in the case of industrial production, since the microorganism of the invention is a facultative anaerobe and thus capable of effecting the conversion of the bile acids under aerobic conditions at a high substrate concentration. Moreover, the microorganism shows neither any hemolytic properties nor lecithinase productivity which might result in pathogenicity. Thus this process is a highly excellent one.