Media, completely different with respect to their complexity, were investigated for growth and secondary metabolism with Sorangium cellulosum strain So ce56. While technical substrates are best for metabolite production, these media are not suitable to study gene expressions. Free amino acids as present in soluble media based on peptones were found to inhibit polyketide biosynthesis. Therefore synthetic growth and production media were developed. Different nitrogen- and carbon sources as well as trace elements were studied with respect to growth and regulation of chivosazol biosynthesis. A simple defined medium with asparagine as nitrogen source, glucose as carbon source and zinc ions as essential trace element is proposed for future studies into secondary metabolism using transcriptomics and proteomics.