Novel catalytic activity of immobilized spores under reduced water activity

Onset of a new catalytic function during transformation of progesterone by immobilized spores of Aspergillus ochraceus TS under reduced water activity is reported. The pathway of transformation, which furnished 1,4-androstadien-17β-ol-3-one and 1,4-androstadien-3, 17-dione due to cleavage of C17---C20 bond, is different from normal reaction sequence.