Abstract:Blue light can regulate the secondary metabolites and sporogony in Monascus, however, the mechanism is still unclear. Aminophylline is a kind of inducer of adenosine 3′,5′-cyclization monophosphate -cAMP- intracellular. To study the role of cAMP on the sporulation and citrinin production by blue light induced Monascus, citrinin production and number of spores in fermentation broth were detected after aminophylline added into the culture medium. When the content of aminophylline reached 10mmol/L, citrinin production and the number of conidium increased by 190 and 297 times, respectively. When the concentration of aminophylline got to 15mmol/L, the number of ascospores increased by 284 times. This result corresponds to the changes of citrinin production and sporulation in Monascus affected by blue light. It is presumed that blue light affects the spore production and metabolic regulation of citrinin in Monascus is possibly via the cAMP signaling pathway.