Large scale production of recombinant mouse and rat growth hormone by fed-batch GS-NSO cell cultures

Investigations of biological effects of prolonged elevation of growth hormone in animals such as mice and rats require large amounts of mouse and rat growth hormone (GH) materials. As an alternative to scarce and expensive pituitary derived materials, both mouse and rat GH were expressed in NSO murine myeloma cells transfected with a vector containing the glutamine synthetase (GS) gene and two copies of mouse or rat GH cDNA. For optimal expression, the mouse GH vector also contained sequences for targeting integration by homologous recombination. Fed-batch culture processes for such clones were developed using a serum-free, glutamine-free medium and scaled up to 250 L production scale reactors. Concentrated solutions of proteins, amino acids and glucose were fed periodically to extend cell growth and culture lifetime, which led to an increase in the maximum viable cell concentration to 3.5×10⁹ cells/L and an up to 10 fold increase in final mouse and rat rGH titers in comparison with batch cultures. For successful scale up, similar culture environmental conditions were maintained at different scales, and specific issues in large scale reactors such as balancing oxygen supply and carbon dioxide removal, were addressed. Very similar cell growth and protein productivity were obtained in the fed-batch cultures at different scales and in different production runs. The final mouse and rat rGH titers were approximately 580 and 240 mg/L, respectively. During fed-batch cultures, the cell growth stage transition was accompanied by a change in cellular metabolism. The specific glucose consumption rate decreased significantly after the transition from the growth to stationary stage, while lactate was produced in the exponential growth stage and became consumed in the stationary stage. This was roughly coincident with the beginning of ammonia and glutamate accumulation at the entry of cells into the stationary stage as the result of a reduced glutamine consumption and periodic nutrient additions.     

Effect of pH and butyrate concentration on the production of acetone and butanol by Clostridium acetobutylicum grown in continuous culture

Summary When Clostridium acetobutylicum was grown in continuous culture under glucose limitation at neutral pH and varying dilution rates the only fermentation products formed were acetate, butyrate, carbon dioxide and molecular hydrogen. The Y _glucose ^max and (Y _ATP ^max ) _gluc ^exp values were 48.3 and 23.8 dry weight/mol, respectively. Acetone and butanol were produced when the pH was decreased below 5.0 (optimum at pH 4.3). The addition of butyric acid (20 to 80 mM) to the medium with a pH of 4.3 resulted in a shift of the fermentation from acid, to solvent formation.A preliminary report of part of this work was presented at a symposium Trends in the Biology of Fermentations for Fuels and Chemicals held December 7–11, 1980, at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York; Gottschalk and Bahl 1981     

Über die rationelle Milchpasteurisierung

Ohne ZusammenfassungDie Arbeit wurde dem R. Istituto Lombardo Scienze e Lettere am 5. Juni 1934 vorgelegt (Rend. 67, 671, 1934).     

Beyond the landscape: Resistance modelling infers physical and behavioural gene flow barriers to a mobile carnivore across a metropolitan area

Urbanization affects key aspects of wildlife ecology. Dispersal in urban wildlife species may be impacted by geographical barriers but also by a species’ inherent behavioural variability. There are no functional connectivity analyses using continuous individual‐based sampling across an urban‐rural continuum that would allow a thorough assessment of the relative importance of physical and behavioural dispersal barriers. We used 16 microsatellite loci to genotype 374 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) from the city of Berlin and surrounding rural regions in Brandenburg in order to study genetic structure and dispersal behaviour of a mobile carnivore across the urban‐rural landscape. We assessed functional connectivity by applying an individual‐based landscape genetic optimization procedure. Three commonly used genetic distance measures yielded different model selection results, with only the results of an eigenvector‐based multivariate analysis reasonably explaining genetic differentiation patterns. Genetic clustering methods and landscape resistance modelling supported the presence of an urban population with reduced dispersal across the city border. Artificial structures (railways, motorways) served as main dispersal corridors within the cityscape, yet urban foxes avoided densely built‐up areas. We show that despite their ubiquitous presence in urban areas, their mobility and behavioural plasticity, foxes were affected in their dispersal by anthropogenic presence. Distinguishing between man‐made structures and sites of human activity, rather than between natural and artificial structures, is thus essential for better understanding urban fox dispersal. This differentiation may also help to understand dispersal of other urban wildlife and to predict how behaviour can shape population genetic structure beyond physical barriers.     

Improved packing of preparative biochromatography columns by mechanical vibration

The bioprocessing industry relies on packed-bed column chromatography as its primary separation process to attain the required high product purities and fulfill the strict requirements from regulatory bodies. Conventional column packing methods rely on flow packing and/or mechanical compression. In this work, the application of ultrasound and mechanical vibration during packing was studied with respect to packing density and homogeneity. We investigated two widely used biochromatography media, incompressible ceramic hydroxyapatite, and compressible polymethacrylate-based particles, packed in a laboratory-scale column with an inner diameter of 50 mm. It was shown that ultrasonic irradiation led to reduced particle segregation during sedimentation of a homogenized slurry of polymethacrylate particles. However, the application of ultrasound did not lead to an improved microstructure of already packed columns due to the low volumetric energy input (~152 W/L) caused by high acoustic reflection losses. In contrast, the application of pneumatic mechanical vibration led to considerable improvements. Flow-decoupled axial linear vibration was most suitable at a volumetric force output of ~1,190 N/L. In the case of the ceramic hydroxyapatite particles, a 13% further decrease of the packing height was achieved and the reduced height equivalent to a theoretical plate (rHETP) was decreased by 44%. For the polymethacrylate particles, a 18% further packing consolidation was achieved and the rHETP was reduced by 25%. Hence, it was shown that applying mechanical vibration resulted in more efficiently packed columns. The application of vibration furthermore is potentially suitable for in situ elimination of flow channels near the column wall.     

Eighteen Coral Genomes Reveal the Evolutionary Origin of Acropora Strategies to Accommodate Environmental Changes

The genus Acropora comprises the most diverse and abundant scleractinian corals (Anthozoa, Cnidaria) in coral reefs, the most diverse marine ecosystems on Earth. However, the genetic basis for the success and wide distribution of Acropora are unknown. Here, we sequenced complete genomes of 15 Acropora species and 3 other acroporid taxa belonging to the genera Montipora and Astreopora to examine genomic novelties that explain their evolutionary success. We successfully obtained reasonable draft genomes of all 18 species. Molecular dating indicates that the Acropora ancestor survived warm periods without sea ice from the mid or late Cretaceous to the Early Eocene and that diversification of Acropora may have been enhanced by subsequent cooling periods. In general, the scleractinian gene repertoire is highly conserved; however, coral- or cnidarian-specific possible stress response genes are tandemly duplicated in Acropora. Enzymes that cleave dimethlysulfonioproprionate into dimethyl sulfide, which promotes cloud formation and combats greenhouse gasses, are the most duplicated genes in the Acropora ancestor. These may have been acquired by horizontal gene transfer from algal symbionts belonging to the family Symbiodiniaceae, or from coccolithophores, suggesting that although functions of this enzyme in Acropora are unclear, Acropora may have survived warmer marine environments in the past by enhancing cloud formation. In addition, possible antimicrobial peptides and symbiosis-related genes are under positive selection in Acropora, perhaps enabling adaptation to diverse environments. Our results suggest unique Acropora adaptations to ancient, warm marine environments and provide insights into its capacity to adjust to rising seawater temperatures.