Downstream processing and characterization of pullulan from a novel colour variant strain of Aureobasidium pullulans FB-1

Exopolysaccharide produced by a new novel colour variant strain of Aureobasidium pullulans FB-1 was purified by cell harvesting and precipitation of the polymer. Various organic solvents were screened for pullulan precipitation. Isolation and purification of pullulan from fermentation broth was carried out using single-step purification strategy by isopropyl alcohol precipitation. Ratio of culture supernatant to isopropyl alcohol and time of precipitation were optimized for pullulan precipitation. Maximum yield (4.47%, w/v) of polysaccharide was obtained when two volumes of ice-cold isopropyl alcohol were added to one volume of supernatant with precipitation time of 12 h. IR spectra as well as carbon-13 and proton NMR spectra in aqueous solution of intact polysaccharide obtained from A. pullulans FB-1 and commercially available pullulan (Sigma, USA) revealed solely α-(1 → 6) linked maltosyl units, in accord with the generally accepted structure of pullulan. Maximum hydrolysis (94.25%) of purified pullulan at 50 °C by pullulanase was achieved under agitation (150 rpm) after 360 min.     

Estimation of pullulan by hydrolysis with pullulanase

A novel method for the estimation of pullulan was developed in which pullulan was hydrolysed by pullulanase. The hydrolysed product was mainly maltotriose and was determined colorimetrically using 3,5-dimethylsalicylic acid. This gave good linearity with respect to the concentration of pullulan in the fermentation broth. The content of pullulan determined in this way was less than that determined by a coupled enzyme assay and was comparable to that determined by an HPLC method. The new method was specific for estimation of pullulan, demonstrated high accuracy, and could assay pullulan from up to 3.2 mg/ml.     

Solvent screening methodology for in situ ABE extractive fermentation

Solvent screening for in situ liquid extraction of products from acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation was carried out, taking into account biological parameters (biocompatibility, bioavailability, and product yield) and extraction performance (partition coefficient and selectivity) determined in real fermentation broth. On the basis of different solvent characteristics obtained from literature, 16 compounds from different chemical families were selected and experimentally evaluated for their extraction capabilities in a real ABE fermentation broth system. From these compounds, nine potential solvents were also tested for their biocompatibility towards Clostridium acetobutylicum. Moreover, bioavailability and differences in substrate consumption and total n-butanol production with respect to solvent-free fermentations were quantified for each biocompatible solvent. Product yield was enhanced in the presence of organic solvents having higher affinity for butanol and butyric acid. Applying this methodology, it was found that the Guerbet alcohol 2-butyl-1-octanol presented the best extracting characteristics (the highest partition coefficient (6.76) and the third highest selectivity (644)), the highest butanol yield (27.4 %), and maintained biocompatibility with C. acetobutylicum.     

Development of aqueous two‐phase systems comprising poly ethylene glycol and dextran for purification of pullulan: Phase diagrams and fiscal analysis

Pullulan is a commercially important Exopolysaccharide (EPS) with wide‐spread applications which is produced by Aureobasidium pullulans. The alternative α (1 4) & α (1 6) configuration in pullulan provides it the specific structural and conformational properties. Pullulan is currently being exploited in food, health care, pharmacy, lithography, cosmetics. The fermented broth is processed by organic solvent precipitation for isolation and purification of pullulan. In this study, we have tried to analyze the potential of aqueous two phase system as an alternate technique to extract pullulan from fermented broth. Including this viability of ATPS was also compared with conventional organic solvent precipitation system in terms of cost and time. It was found that ATPS process produced a higher yield of pullulan (80.56%) than organic solvent precipitation method (71.6%). ATPS was also found more economical and less time consuming method.     

Downstream processing of pullulan from fermentation broth

pullulan, a water soluble extracellular polysaccharide, was produced by downstream fermentation employing the strain Aureobasidium pullulans. To obtain pure biopolymer from the fermentation broth, it is necessary to harvest cells, heat the broth, remove the melanin pigments co-produced during fermentation, concentration, precipitate and dry. Centrifugation of the fermentation broth at 10,000 rpm for 15 min gave cell pellets that were discarded and a green–black supernatant containing melanin pigment was subjected to the heat treatment at 80 °C for 20 min in order to remove the protein in the fermentation broth. The supernatant was demelanized by oxidation with hydrogen peroxide, concentrated under vacuum, precipitated with ethanol and dried at 60 °C for 30 min. This procedure produced high purity pullulan that was comparable in color and texture to the commercial samples.     

Optimization of ectoine synthesis through fed-batch fermentation of Brevibacterium epidermis

A production process for ectoine has been developed, using Brevibacterium epidermis DSM20659 as the producer strain. First, the optimal conditions for intracellular synthesis of ectoine were determined. The size of the intracellular ectoine pool is shown to be dependent on the external salt concentration, type of carbon source, and yeast extract concentration. Under the optimized conditions of 1 M NaCl, 50 g/L monosodium glutamate, and 2.5 g/L yeast extract, a maximum concentration of intracellular ectoine of 0.9 g/L was obtained in shake flask cultures. After optimizing the batch fermentation parameters of temperature, pH, agitation, and aeration, the yield could be further increased by applying the fed-batch fermentation principle in 1.5- to 2-L fermentors. Glutamate and yeast extract were fed to the bacterial cells such that the total glutamate concentration in the broth remained constant. A total yield of 8 g ectoine/L fermentation broth was obtained with a productivity of 2 g ectoine/L/day. After the bacterial cells were harvested from the culture broth, the ectoine was recovered from them by a two-step extraction with water and ethanol. Crystallization of the product was obtained after concentration of the extract via evaporation under reduced pressure. After this downstream process, 55% of the ectoine produced in the fermentor could be crystallized in four fractions. The first fractions were of very high purity (98%). This production process can compete with other described production processes for ectoine in productivity and simplicity. Further advantages are the relatively low amounts of NaCl needed and the absence of hydroxyectoine, often a byproduct, in the final product.     

Effect of pH on the batch fermentation of pullulan from sucrose medium

Two strains of the yeast-like fungus Aureobasidium pullulans 2552 and 140B have been used for the fermentative production of the polysaccharide pullulan from a sucrose synthetic medium. In the batch fermentation, either in Erlenmeyers or in the fermentor, the pH of the culture medium was decreased rapidly from its initial pH value of 5.5 to the self-stabilized final value of 2.5 within 24 h. Experiments on the effect of initial pH on the fermentation revealed that at very low initial pH values, such as at pH 2, the polysaccharide production was in-significant. However, the biomass concentration obtained was very high at this very low initial pH value. This interesting phenomenon was served as the basic principle for the development of the bistaged pH fermentation process for the production of pullulan. In this process the first stage of fermentation was conducted at the very acidic pH for the best production of biomass. When the biomass concentration reached its maximum value, the second stage of fermentation was initiated by adjusting the medium pH to a higher value for promoting the synthesis of the polysaccharide. Experiments conducted in Erlenmeyers and in the fermentor confirmed this concept. The bistaged pH process enhanced the polysaccharide concentration in the medium, influenced the rheological properties of the fermentation broth, and has a potential of operation under nonsterile and nonaseptic conditions.     

Extractive fermentation for butyric acid production from glucose by Clostridium tyrobutyricum

A novel extractive fermentation for butyric acid production from glucose, using immobilized cells of Clostridium tyrobutyricum in a fibrous bed bioreactor, was developed by using 10% (v/v) Alamine 336 in oleyl alcohol as the extractant contained in a hollow-fiber membrane extractor for selective removal of butyric acid from the fermentation broth. The extractant was simultaneously regenerated by stripping with NaOH in a second membrane extractor. The fermentation pH was self-regulated by a balance between acid production and removal by extraction, and was kept at approximately pH 5.5 throughout the study. Compared with conventional fermentation, extractive fermentation resulted in a much higher product concentration (>300 g/L) and product purity (91%). It also resulted in higher reactor productivity (7.37 g/L. h) and butyric acid yield (0.45 g/g). Without on-line extraction to remove the acid products, at the optimal pH of 6.0, the final butyric acid concentration was only approximately 43.4 g/L, butyric acid yield was 0.423 g/g, and reactor productivity was 6.77 g/L. h. These values were much lower at pH 5.5: 20.4 g/L, 0.38 g/g, and 5.11 g/L. h, respectively. The improved performance for extractive fermentation can be attributed to the reduced product inhibition by selective removal of butyric acid from the fermentation broth. The solvent was found to be toxic to free cells in suspension, but not harmful to cells immobilized in the fibrous bed. The process was stable and provided consistent long-term performance for the entire 2-week period of study.     

二价阳离子对短梗霉多糖发酵的影响

就二价阳离子对短梗霉多糖和黑色素的影响进行了分析和研究。结果表明 ,二价阳离子对短梗霉多糖的合成和黑色素的形成均有较大的影响。通过对培养基中二价阳离子含量和种类的控制不仅可以抑制细胞黑色素的形成 ,而且还保持了很高的多糖发酵水平 ,在 30L生物反应器中短梗霉多糖的产量和转化率分别达到了 59 8g/L和 61 5%。     

In situ recovery of 2,3-butanediol from fermentation by liquid–liquid extraction

End-product conversion, low product concentration and large volumes of fermentation broth, the requirements for large bioreactors, in addition to the high cost involved in generating the steam required to distil fermentation products from the broth largely contributed to the decline in fermentative products. These considerations have motivated the study of organic extractants as a means to remove the product during fermentation and minimize downstream recovery. The aim of this study is to assess the practical applicability of liquid–liquid extraction in 2,3-butanediol fermentations. Eighteen organic solvents were screened to determine their biocompatibility, and bioavailability for their effects on Klebsiella pneumoniae growth. Candidate solvents at first were screened in shake flasks for toxicity to K. pneumoniae. Cell density and substrate consumption were used as measures of cell toxicity. The possibility of employing oleyl alcohol as an extraction solvent to enhance end product in 2,3-butanediol fermentation was evaluated. Fermentation was carried out at an initial glucose concentration of 80 g/l. Oleyl alcohol did not inhibit the growth of the fermentative organism. 2,3-Butanediol production increased from 17.9 g/l (in conventional fermentation) to 23.01 g/l (in extractive fermentation). Applying oleyl alcohol as the extraction solvent, about 68% of the total 2,3-butanediol produced was extracted. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Enhanced production of pigment-free pullulan by a morphogenetically arrested Aureobasidium pullulans (ATCC 42023) in a two-stage fermentation with shift from soy bean oil to sucrose

A two-stage fermentation process was established for the production of pigment-free pullulan by the yeast-like fungus Aureobasidium pullulans (ATCC 42023). In the first stage, starting at pH 4.5 with soy bean oil as the carbon source and glutamate as the nitrogen source, a cell mass of about 15 g l^–1 dry cell weight was obtained, the population being restricted mainly to the yeast form of the microorganism (yeast form more than 90% of total cells) and the formation of pigment in the culture being prevented. Small amounts of pullulan (less than 2 g l^–1) are produced at this phase, and the viscosity remained low throughout the entire growth stage. When the oil and glutamate source were nearly exhausted (below 5% of initial amounts), the cells were shifted to a production stage with sucrose as the carbon source with continued nitrogen depletion. Production of pullulan started immediately with no lag period. During 50 h of the production phase more than 35 g l^–1 of pullulan was produced (productivity approx. 0.7 g l^–1), resulting in a large increase in the viscosity of the broth. The production yield of pollulan on the sugar was about 0.6 g g^–1. Morphogenesis from the yeast form of the microorganism to chlamydospores was still restrained and no pigment was formed in the culture during the production stage. A pigment-free polysaccharide, with a molecular mass in the range of 600–750 kDa, was recovered from the supernatant of the broth after solvent precipitation.     

Co-extraction during reactive extraction of phenylalanine using Aliquat 336: interfacial mass transfer

Reactive liquid-liquid extraction can be used to separate hydrophilic fermentation products that would not otherwise partition into nonpolar solvents. However, during extraction of the target solute other compounds present in the extraction medium will also react with the ion exchange reagent and are thus co-extracted. In this study the effect of co-extraction on the interfacial flux of the target solute phenylalanine has been investigated for reactive extraction using Aliquat 336. The effect of co-extracting compounds has been included in a new interfacial flux balance, and experimental results reveal that the interfacial concentrations are equal to the final equilibrium conditions of the system. Using this information a simple mass transfer model has been developed from which film mass transfer coefficients may be determined. Co-extraction of other compounds present in the feed was found to reduce the interfacial flux of the target solute by reducing the driving force. Co-extraction did not affect the value of the film mass transfer coefficient, and therefore, co-extraction does not effect the transport properties of the solute to the interface. Extraction from a multicomponent fermentation broth resulted in a reduced flux, which arises from a reduction in the driving force caused by high levels of co-extraction. Furthermore, the flux was also reduced as the result of a mass transfer resistance caused by soluble surface-active compounds present in the fermentation broth adsorbing to the interface. The biomass associated with the fermentation broth was also found to reduce the solute flux, and it is believed that this is due to blockage of the interfacial area.     

Optimization of pH for high molecular weight pullulan

Summary Pullulan is a polysaccharide produced by Aureobasidium pullulans. In this study, the effect of pH on the molecular weight of pullulan was investigated. High concentration of pullulan was obtained when initial pH was 6. Pullulan having molecular weight of 500,000–600,000 was produced at initial pH of 3.0, while pullulan with molecular weight of 200,000–300,000 was produced at pH above 4.5. To obtain high molecular weight pullulan with high concentration, pH was initially controlled at pH 6, followed by pH shift from pH 6 to pH 3. Transition of pH at 2 days of fermentation was observed to be optimum. Higher molecular weight pullulan was also obtained when sucrose concentration was 50 g/l compared to the result obtained at initial sucrose concentration of 20 g/l. Sucrose concentration and pH of the fermentation broth seem to be important parameters in obtaining high molecular weight of pullulan.     

Fluidized bed adsorption for whole broth extraction.

Fluidized bed adsorption using a high-density synthetic resin has proven to be an invaluable technique for separating novel compounds from unfiltered fermentation broths during the very early stages of fermentation development, where product concentrations are typically in the parts per million range. Previous initial downstream processing strategies consisted of cell separation from whole broth or direct extraction with water-immiscible solvents, both of which resulted in lengthy time cycles, conflicts with existing operations requiring the use of high-cost centrifugal separators, and environmental/solvent recovery concerns. Laboratory and subsequent pilot plant process development work along with concomitant improvements in yield, quality, and time cycles are presented for one of several fluidized bed processes piloted in Merck's Natural Product Isolation facility.     

Production of acetone butanol ethanol (ABE) by a hyper-producing mutant strain of Clostridium beijerinckii BA101 and recovery by pervaporation.

A silicone membrane was used to study butanol separation from model butanol solutions and fermentation broth. Depending upon the butanol feed concentration in the model solution and pervaporation conditions, butanol selectivities of 20.88-68.32 and flux values of 158.7-215.4 g m(-)(2) h(-)(1) were achieved. Higher flux values (400 g m(-)(2) h(-)(1)) were obtained at higher butanol concentrations using air as sweep gas. In an integrated process of butanol fermentation-recovery, solvent productivities were improved to 200% of the control batch fermentation productivities. In a batch reactor the hyper-butanol-producing mutant strain C. beijerinckii BA101 utilized 57.3 g/L glucose and produced 24.2 g/L total solvents, while in the integrated process it produced 51.5 g/L (culture volume) total solvents. Concentrated glucose medium was also fermented. The C. beijerinckii BA101 mutant strain was not negatively affected by the pervaporative conditions. In the integrated experiment, acids were not produced. With the active fermentation broth, butanol selectivity was reduced by a factor of 2-3. However, the membrane flux was not affected by the active fermentation broth. The butanol permeate concentration ranged from 26.4 to 95.4 g/L, depending upon butanol concentration in the fermentation broth. Since the permeate of most membranes contains acetone, butanol, and ethanol (and small concentrations of acids), it is suggested that distillation be used for further purification.     

Separation of bio‐based chemicals from fermentation broths by salting‐out extraction

The possibility of creating a biorefinery using inexpensive biomass has attracted a great deal of attention, which is mainly focused on the improvement of strains and fermentation, whereas few resources have been spent on downstream processing. Bio‐based chemical downstream processing can become a bottleneck in industrial production because so many impurities are introduced into the fermentation broth. This review introduces a technique referred to as salting‐out extraction, which is based on the partition difference between chemicals in two phases consisting of salts and polymers or hydrophilic solvents, hydrophobic solvents, and amphipathic chemicals. The effects of solvents and salts on the formation of two phases were discussed, as was the use of this method to recover bio‐based chemicals. This review focused on the separation of hydrophilic chemicals (1,3‐propanediol, 2,3‐butanediol, acetoin, and lactic acid) from fermentation broths. Diols could be recovered at a high yield from fermentation broths without pretreatment especially with a hydrophilic solvent‐based system, whereas the recovery of organic acids was slightly lower. Most of the impurities (cells and proteins) were removed during the same step. Extractive fermentations were also used for polymer‐based aqueous two‐phase systems.     

Repeated use of yeast biomass in ethanol fermentation of juniper berry sugars

Summary The object of this study was to establish the possibility of using the yeast biomass separated from the fermentation broth at the end of ethanol fermentation of juniper berry sugars as an inoculum in successive batch fermentation processes. A part of the fermentation broth (10% v/v) and a suspension of yeast biomass (separated from the same broth) into the water extract of juniper berries (2 g of wet yeast biomass per liter of water extract) were used as inocula. It was shown that the suspension of yeast biomass could be used as inoculum in successive batch processes without negative effects on the kinetics and ethanol yield, but with positive effects on the capacity and economy of the bioprocess. The addition of ammonium salts at optimum levels did not affect the final ethanol concentrations (4.3–4.4% v/v), but enhanced the specific rate of ethanol production, thus reducing the process duration by about five times.     

盐析萃取生物基化学品的研究进展

廉价生物质的生物炼制研究主要集中在菌种和发酵方面,对下游分离研究较少。廉价生物质资源的利用导致发酵液中引入更多杂质,成分较单糖发酵更复杂,致使生物基化学品的下游分离过程成为其工业化生产亟需解决的关键问题。文中介绍了一种基于两相分配差异分离亲水性生物基化学品的盐析萃取技术及其在生物基化学品分离方面的应用,重点阐述了短链醇和盐对双水相形成的影响,并对1,3-丙二醇、2,3-丁二醇、乙偶姻、乳酸等的盐析萃取研究进展进行了总结和展望。盐析萃取技术可有效地回收发酵液中的小分子亲水性产品,同时除去大多数的杂质 (细胞和蛋白质等),在生物基化学品的分离过程中将是一种有前景的分离技术。     

A novel Method for the selective recovery and purification of γ‐polyglutamic acid from Bacillus licheniformis fermentation broth

Microbially produced gamma‐polyglutamic acid (γ‐PGA) is a commercially important biopolymer with many applications in biopharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and waste‐water treatment industries. Owing to its increasing demand in various industries, production of γ‐PGA is well documented in the literature, however very few methods have been reported for its recovery. In this paper, we report a novel method for the selective recovery and purification of γ‐PGA from cell‐free fermentation broth of Bacillus licheniformis. The cell‐free fermentation broth was treated with divalent copper ions, resulting in the precipitation of γ‐PGA, which was collected as a pellet by centrifugation. The pellet was resolubilized and dialyzed against de‐ionized water to obtain the purified γ‐PGA biopolymer. The efficiency and selectivity of γ‐PGA recovery was compared with ethanol precipitation method. We found that 85% of the original γ‐PGA content in the broth was recovered by copper sulfate‐induced precipitation, compared to 82% recovery by ethanol precipitation method. Since ethanol is a commonly used solvent for protein precipitation, the purity of γ‐PGA precipitate was analyzed by measuring proteins that co‐precipitated with γ‐PGA. Of the total proteins present in the broth, 48% proteins were found to be co‐precipitated with γ‐PGA by ethanol precipitation, whereas in copper sulfate‐induced precipitation, only 3% of proteins were detected in the final purified γ‐PGA, suggesting that copper sulfate‐induced precipitation offers better selectivity than ethanol precipitation method. Total metal content analysis of the purified γ‐PGA revealed the undetectable amount of copper ions, whereas other metal ions detected were in low concentration range. The purified γ‐PGA was characterized using infrared spectroscopy. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010     

Continuos IBE fermentation by immobilized growing Clostridium beijerinckii cells in a stirred-tank fermentor

The potential of continuous isopropanol-butanol-ethanol (IBE) fermentation by Ca-alginate-immobilized Clostridium beijerinckii cells in a continuous stirred-tank reactor is investigated. A mathematical model is presented to describe steady-state reactor performance. It appeared to be possible to use the biocatalyst particles repeatedly for successive fermentations (at least three times for a total duration of two months). Reactor productivity was 6-16 times higher than that of a batch fermentation (free cells), while the solvents yield was also increased. Measurements of substrate, product, and biomass concentrations were only partially in agreement with the model; however, a solid basis for further technological developement of the process has been laid.