A strain with strong antifungal activity, Bacillus subtilis NS-174, was identified and the antifungal compounds were purified and structurally analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The effects of the enzymatic hydrolysis and the fermentation strategies on production of the antifungal compounds were also investigated. The results showed that the antifungal compounds were characterized to be C14 and C15 bacillomycin D homologues (C14–15BDs). When 400 mL of the cellulase hydrolysates from the maize straws residues (CHMSRs) was fed into 1.0 L of the batch fermentation broth at 60 h, an output of C14–15BDs (OC14–15BDs) was obtained as 44.84 mg gmaize straws−1. Moreover, the fed-batch fermentation was beneficial for the increase of the transcriptional activities of C14–15BDs synthetase genes by up-regulating expression of comA, sigmaH and spo0A, which caused the elevation of C14–15BDs production. The present work provided an effective solution for lipopeptide production in Bacillus subtilis.
