Growth patterns and alkaloid accumulation in hairy root and untransformed root cultures of Datura stramonium

The aim of this work was to study the possible relationship between alkaloid production and growth measured as: biomass increase and cellular division frequency, in Datura stramonium in vitro root cultures (hairy root and normal cultures). A comparison of growth values on a fresh and dry weight basis showed that there were differences between transformed and non-transformed lines. The differential growth between lines occurred due to a real biomass increase and not because of water accumulation. On the other hand, the rate of cell division showed a similar pattern for all lines studied. Therefore, the differences in growth are not due to different cell division rates, nor to the presence of larger meristems, but to the development and growth of lateral roots and the presence of active intercalary meristematic zones in each line. The maximum alkaloid production occurred when the cultures were not growing. This suggests an inverse relationship. Finally, the data support a specific model of growth at the level of cell division in root cultures which has not been described before in the literature. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Cell cycle analysis of Taxus suspension cultures at the single cell level as an indicator of culture heterogeneity

Single cell growth and division was measured via flow cytometry in order to characterize the metabolic variability of Taxus cuspidata suspension cultures, which produce the valuable secondary metabolite Taxol. Good agreement was observed between the cell cycle distribution and biomass accumulation over the batch culture period. Specific growth rates of 0.13 days(-1) by fresh weight and 0.15 days(-1) by dry weight were measured. Elicitation with methyl jasmonate (MJ) significantly decreased both cell cycle progression and biomass accumulation, as the specific growth rate decreased to 0.027 days(-1) by fresh and dry weight. Despite the decrease in biomass accumulation for MJ elicited cultures, sucrose utilization was not significantly different from control cultures. MJ elicitation also increased the accumulation of paclitaxel and other taxanes. The accumulation of upstream taxanes (baccatin III and 10-deactylbaccatin III) increased during exponential growth, reached a maximum around day 12, and then declined throughout the stationary phase. The paclitaxel concentration increased during both exponential growth and stationary phase, reaching a maximum around days 20-25. Throughout the culture period, greater than 70% of the cells were in G(0)/G(1) phase of the cell cycle. Studies using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation showed that approximately 65% of the Taxus cells are noncycling, even during exponential growth. Although the role of these cells is currently unknown, the presence of a large, noncycling subpopulation can have a significant impact on the utilization of plant cell culture technology for the large-scale production of paclitaxel. These results demonstrate that there is a high degree of metabolic heterogeneity in Taxus cuspidata suspension cultures. Understanding this heterogeneity is important for the optimization of plant cell cultures, particularly the reduction of production variability.     

Engineering Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to achieve an inverse growth – associated production of a foreign protein, β-galactosidase

Protein synthesis in mammalian cells can be observed in two strikingly different patterns: 1) production of monoclonal antibodies in hybridoma cultures is typically inverse growth associated and 2) production of most therapeutic glycoproteins in recombinant mammalian cell cultures is found to be growth associated. Production of monoclonal antibodies has been easily maximized by culturing hybridoma cells at very low growth rates in high cell density fed- batch or perfusion bioreactors. Applying the same bioreactor techniques to recombinant mammalian cell cultures results in drastically reduced production rates due to their growth associated production kinetics. Optimization of such growth associated production requires high cell growth conditions, such as in repeated batch cultures or chemostat cultures with attendant excess biomass synthesis. Our recent research has demonstrated that this growth associated production in recombinant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells is related to the S (DNA synthesis)-phase specific production due to the SV40 early promoter commonly used for driving the foreign gene expression. Using the stably transfected CHO cell lines synthesizing an intracellular reporter protein under the control of SV40 early promoter, we have recently demonstrated in batch and continuous cultures that the product synthesis is growth associated. We have now replaced this S-phase specific promoter in new expression vectors with the adenovirus major late promoter which was found to be active primarily in the G1-phase and is expected to yield the desirable inverse growth associated production behavior. Our results in repeated batch cultures show that the protein synthesis kinetics in this resulting CHO cell line is indeed inverse growth associated. Results from continuous and high cell density perfusion culture experiments also indicate a strong inverse growth associated protein synthesis. The bioreactor optimization with this desirable inverse growth associated production behavior would be much simpler than bioreactor operation for cells with growth associated production. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Growth and neutral lipid synthesis in green microalgae: A mathematical model

Many green microalgae significantly increased their cellular neutral lipid content when cultured in nitrogen limited or high light conditions. Due to their lipid production potential, these algae have been suggested as promising feedstocks for biofuel production. However, no models for algal lipid synthesis with respect to nutrient and light have been developed to predict lipid production and to help improve the production process. A mathematical model is derived describing the growth dynamics and neutral lipid production of green microalgae grown in batch cultures. The model assumed that as the nitrogen was depleted, photosynthesis became uncoupled from growth, resulting in the synthesis and accumulation of neutral lipids. Simulation results were compared with experimental data for the green microalgae Pseudochlorococcum sp. For growth media with low nitrogen concentration, the model agreed closely with the data; however, with high nitrogen concentration the model overestimated the biomass. It is likely that additional limiting factors besides nitrogen could be responsible for this discrepancy.     

Modeling of Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous growth on glucose and overflow metabolism in batch and fed-batch cultures for astaxanthin production

An astaxanthin-producing yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous ENM5 was cultivated in a liquid medium containing 50 g/L glucose as the major carbon source in stirred fermentors (1.5-L working volume) in fully aerobic conditions. Ethanol was produced during the exponential growth phase as a result of overflow metabolism or fermentative catabolism of glucose by yeast cells. After accumulating to a peak of 3.5 g/L, the ethanol was consumed by yeast cells as a carbon source when glucose in the culture was nearly exhausted. High initial glucose concentrations and ethanol accumulation in the culture had inhibitory effects on cell growth. Astaxanthin production was partially associated with cell growth. Based on these culture characteristics, we constructed a modified Monod kinetic model incorporating substrate (glucose) and product (ethanol) inhibition to describe the relationship of cell growth rate with glucose and ethanol concentrations. This kinetic model, coupled with the Luedeking-Piret equation for the astaxanthin production, gave satisfactory prediction of the biomass production, glucose consumption, ethanol formation and consumption, and astaxanthin production in batch cultures over 25-75 g/L glucose concentration ranges. The model was also applied to fed-batch cultures to predict the optimum feeding scheme (feeding glucose and corn steep liquor) for astaxanthin production, leading to a high volumetric yield (28.6 mg/L) and a high productivity (5.36 mg/L/day).     

Coupling of saxitoxin biosynthesis to the G1 phase of the cell cycle in the dinoflagellate Alexandrin fundyense: temperature and nutrient effects

The correlation between changes in length of the different cell cycle stages and the toxicity of Alexandrium fundyense Balech was studied in semi-continuous cultures. Growth rates ranging from 0.031 d(-1) to 0.36 d(-1) were established at different temperatures or levels of phosphate limitation. In all treatments, G1 was the phase with the longest duration. Decrease in growth rate was associated with an increase in duration of the different cell cycle stages. Toxin content was always directly correlated to the duration of the G1 phase. In both the temperature treatments and the phosphate limitation experiments, toxin production rates remained constant for the respective range of conditions, implying that the variations in toxin content observed were a result of increasing periods of biosynthetic activity. Toxin accumulation was directly correlated to protein biosynthesis in all temperature treatments. In contrast, toxin content showed little correlation with protein content as phosphate limitation increased. Significant differences in toxin composition were observed between the temperature and phosphate treatments. Total concentrations of GTX II and III and C I and II were significantly higher in the phosphate-limited cultures, while the levels of STX, NEO and gonyautoxins I and IV remained virtually unchanged. We conclude that toxin biosynthesis in A. fundyense is coupled to the G1 phase of the cell cycle, that toxin synthesis is not down-regulated by phosphate deprivation and that interconversions among saxitoxin derivatives are influenced by the availability of phosphate.     

A model for continuous fermentations with amylolytic yeasts

A two-stage, associative fermentation process is more effective for continuous yeast biomass production from starch than a single-stage mixed culture fermentation process. By operating two stages, competition for the same growth limiting substrate is reduced leading to efficient starch utilization. In this article, a mathematical model has been proposed for continuous, two-stage fermentation with a pure culture, amylolytic yeast in the first stage and a mixed culture second stage with a faster growing, nonamylolytic yeast. The model parameters were determined for Saccharomycopsis fibuligera and Candida utilis in continuous, single-stage, pure cultures. In the two-stage model, the effects of changes in dilution rate on biomass, amylase, reducing sugar, and starch concentration, and ratio of stage volumes on microbial composition are discussed and compared with experimental data.     

Involvement of a cell size control mechanism in the induction and maintenance of oscillations in continuous cultures of budding yeast

Spontaneous oscillations occur in glucose-limited continuous cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae under aerobic conditions. The oscillatory behavior is detectable as a periodic change of many bioparameters such as dissolved oxygen, ethanol production, biomass concentration, as well as cellular content of storage carbohydrates and is associated to a marked synchronization of the yeast population. These oscillations may be related to a periodic accumulation of ethanol produced by yeast in the culture medium.The addition of ethanol to oscillating yeast cultures supports this hypothesis: indeed, no effect was observed if ethanol was added when already present in the medium, while a marked phase oscillation shift was obtained when ethanol was added at any other time. Moreover, the addition of ethanol to a nonoscillating culture triggers new oscillations. An accurate analysis performed at the level of nonoscillating yeast populations perturbed by addition of ethanol showed that both the growth rate and the protein content required for cell division increased in the presence of mixed substrate (i.e., ethanol plus limiting glucose). A marked synchronization of the yeast population occurred when the added ethanol was exhausted and the culture resumed growth only on limiting glucose. A decrease of protein content required for cell division was also apparent. These experimental findings support a new model for spontaneous oscillations in yeast cultures in which the alternative growth on limiting glucose and limiting glucose plus ethanol modifies the critical protein content required for cell division.     

Optimization of cell growth and bacoside-A production in suspension cultures of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacopa monnieri</Emphasis> (L.) Wettst. using response surface methodology

Plant secondary metabolites have emerged as potential raw materials, which are used in the pharmaceutical, food, chemical, and cosmetic industries. Bacoside-A, a secondary metabolite produced by Bacopa monnieri, is known for its memory-facilitating properties. In recent years, various strategies have been developed to enhance biomass accumulation and synthesis of secondary compounds in cultures. In the present investigation, various factors affecting the production of biomass and bacoside-A in the cell suspension cultures of B. monnieri were optimized using the statistical experimental design approach. Preliminary screening by Plackett–Burman’s design revealed that among the tested factors, glucose, KNO₃, KH₂PO₄, and inoculum density significantly influenced cell growth and bacoside-A production. Furthermore, using response surface methodology (RSM), glucose, KNO₃, and KH₂PO₄ at a concentration of 5.67, 0.313, and 0.29%, respectively, and an inoculum density of 0.66% in basal MS medium were found to be optimal for cell growth and bacoside-A production. After optimization, the biomass yield increased about twofold (from 5.52 to 12.58 g L^?1 fresh cell weight) and bacoside-A production about 1.7-fold (5.56 to 9.84 mg g^?1 dry weight). The present study results show the successful application of RSM to enhance the production of biomass and accumulation of bacoside-A content in cell suspension cultures of B. monnieri.     

Growth and anthocyanin accumulation rates of carrot suspension cultures grown with excess nutrients after semicontinuous culture with different limiting nutrients at several dilution rates, pHs, and temperatures

When carrot cell cultures, after growth in semicontinuous culture, were transferred to media containing excess nutrients, they grew at different rates. The growth rates were generally higher after semicontinuous culture at higher dilution rates. There appears to be a limit on dilution rate above which growth rate does not increase. These changes were also displayed by clones from the parental culture. The possibility that these changes in growth rate reflect a need for the cultures to adapt to their new conditions is discussed. The growth rates of the cultures is markedly increased at 25 degrees C compared with 22 degrees C with little further increase at 28 degrees C. Growth rate is altered by less than 20% when pH is changed from 4.5 to either 5.5 or 4.2. The rates of anthocyanin accumulation by the cultures were similar under all conditions tested except at 22 degrees C. They were larger than the rates of dry weight accumulation. In contrast, the amounts of anthocyanin accumulated in the clones and in the parental cultures grown at pH 5.5 instead of pH 4.5 were very different. The observations were interpreted as showing that the clones differ in the rate of metabolism but not in the rate of synthesis of anthocyanins and that at pH 5.5 the rate of metabolism of anthocyanins but not the rate of synthesis is higher than it is at pH 4.5. The use of semicontinuous cultures as a source of inoculum for batch cultures rather than as a source of biomass for extraction of chemicals is discussed.     

不同种类无机盐对灰毡毛忍冬“渝蕾1号”悬浮培养体系中细胞生长和绿原酸含量的影响

为提高灰毡毛忍冬"渝蕾1号"悬浮培养体系中绿原酸的含量,该研究探讨了B_5培养基中不同浓度的无机盐对灰毡毛忍冬"渝蕾1号"悬浮培养细胞生物量及绿原酸含量的影响,通过在悬浮培养体系中添加不同浓度的无机盐,采用重量法测定灰毡毛忍冬"渝蕾1号"悬浮培养细胞的生物量及采用高效液相色谱法测定绿原酸的含量。结果表明:当硝态氮和铵态氮配比与B_5培养基中硝态氮和铵态氮配比一致时,即NO_3~-/NH_4~+摩尔比值为13∶1时,培养体系有利于细胞的生长和绿原酸的积累。当KNO_3浓度为3.5 g·L~(-1)时,细胞生物量达到最大,为19.26 g·L~(-1);当KNO_3在较低浓度(0.5 g·L~(-1)和1.5 g·L~(-1))时,积累较多的绿原酸。NO_3~-的两项研究结果均与对照浓度(2.5g·L~(-1))有一定的差异。另外,对(NH_4)_2SO_4来说,在高于对照浓度0.134 g·L~(-1),即浓度为0.268 g·L~(-1)时,生物量和绿原酸含量都达到了最大。P、Ca、Mg三种矿质元素的研究结果表明,当Na H_2PO_4·2H_2O浓度为0.10 g·L~(-1)、Ca Cl_2的浓度为0.20 g·L~(-1)时,细胞的生长和绿原酸的积累均可达到最大值;而对Mg~(2+)来说,低浓度促进细胞的生长,高浓度促进绿原酸的积累。兼顾细胞生物量和绿原酸含量两个指标,需选择适中的浓度。这些结果均与对照浓度有一定的差异。这说明灰毡毛忍冬"渝蕾1号"悬浮细胞所需无机盐的浓度与B_5培养基无机盐的浓度有一定的差异,选择适宜的浓度可促进其悬浮细胞的生长及次生代谢产物绿原酸的积累。该研究结果为绿原酸的工业化生产打下了基础。     

Production of cell mass and pertussis toxin by Bordetella pertussis.

The cultivation of Bordetella pertussis affects production of pertussis toxin and biomass. Comparison of batch mode, chemostat operation and pHstat-turbidostatic control showed that productivities for the continuous process were greater than that for the batch operation. Continuous operation in balanced growth at the maximum specific growth rate, provided by the pHstat, resulted in the maximum specific production rate. Because of the strong association of pertussis toxin synthesis and cell growth, the concentration of toxin in the effluent of the continuous processes was greater than the maximum obtained in the batch bioprocess. An expanded Luedeking-Piret model of product formation kinetics fits the observed chemostat data and demonstrates that the production of pertussis toxin from the culture of B. pertussis is predominantly growth associated.     

霍山石斛类原球茎二步法培养细胞生长和多糖合成的动力学研究

磷是调控类原球茎细胞生长和多糖积累的有效因素。为了获得较高的多糖产量,根据霍山石斛类原球茎生长和多糖积累的动力学特性,提出了二步培养方式,采用了补料策略,研究了其培养过程的动力学特性,并建立了相关模型。结果表明,采用二步法培养,生物量从28·7gDW/L提高到44·2gDW/L,多糖产量从1·86g/L提高到5·22g/L,多糖含量从6·4%提高到11·9%。建立的模型基本反映了类原球茎生长和多糖积累的动力学机制。     

霍山石斛类原球茎二步法培养细胞生长和多糖合成的动力学研究

磷是调控类原球茎细胞生长和多糖积累的有效因素。为了获得较高的多糖产量,根据霍山石斛类原球茎生长和多糖积累的动力学特性,提出了二步培养方式,采用了补料策略,研究了其培养过程的动力学特性,并建立了相关模型。结果表明,采用二步法培养,生物量从28.7g DW/L提高到44.2g DW/L, 多糖产量从1.86g/L提高到5.22g/L,多糖含量从6.4%提高到11.9%。建立的模型基本反映了类原球茎生长和多糖积累的动力学机制。     

Kinetic study and mathematical modelling of killer and sensitive S. Cerevisiae strains growing in mixed culture

This paper presents a kinetic study of two yeasts growing in pure and mixed batch cultures. Two winemaking strains were used: S. cerevisiae K1 possessing the K2 killer character and S. cerevisiae 522D sensitive to the K2 killer toxin. Initially the kinetics of growth of the two strains were analysed in pure culture. In this case, the kinetic profiles of biomass production have shown that the growth rate of the K1 strain is slightly superior to the 522D strain. During the fermentation, the viability for both populations was higher than 90%. Fermentations in mixed culture with an initial percentage in killer strain of 5 and 10% with respect to the total population were carried out. The results showed a more important decrease in the percentage of total viable yeasts when the initial concentration of killer yeast increased. However, the kinetic profiles of total biomass (killer plus sensitive yeasts) were very similar for both fermentations. A mathematical model was proposed to simulate the microbial growth of the killer and sensitive strain developing in pure and mixed cultures. This mathematical model consists in three main reactions: the evolution of the killer toxin in the culture medium, the duplication and the mortality rates for each microbial population. The results of the simulation appeared in agreement with the experimental data.     

Modeling of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) production by high cell density fed-batch culture of R<Emphasis Type="Italic">alstonia eutropha</Emphasis>

High cell density culturing has been conducted for the production of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) fed-batch cultures ofRalstonia eutropha with phosphate limitation. It was found that a high glucose concentration inhibited the synthesis of P(3HB) in the high cell density culture ofR. eutropha. Although a low glucose concentration can trigger the synthesis of P(3HB) in a manner similar to that of phosphate limitation, it also limited both the P(3HB) synthesis and the cell growth, and led to a low P(3HB) productivity because glucose is the sole carbon source in this reaction. An unstructured model was proposed for predicting the cell growth and P(3HB) synthesis in high cell density cultures ofR. eutropha, where the phosphate concentration played a key role in the accumulation of P(3HB) and in cell growth. Good agreements were found between the experimental data and model predictions. The results of simulation showed that the final P(3HB) concentration would decrease more than 25% when the glucose was concentration increased to 40 g/L, and indicated that the optimal glucose concentration for P(3HB) production by high cell density cultures ofR. eutropha was around 9 g/L.     

Monitoring growth and lipid production of new isolated oleaginous yeast Cryptococcus aerius UIMC65 on glucose and xylose cultures

Process monitoring is one of the most important factors affecting production efficiency at industrial scale bioprocesses. In the present work, Flow-cytometric analysis has been employed to monitor and determine neutral lipid cell droplets, granularity and size of the cells of the new oleaginous yeast, Cryptococcus aerius UIMC65. It has been shown that, differences of fluorescent intensity as well as side and forward scatter light properties have close correlations with the differences in lipid production by these yeast cells. The lipid content-related fluorescent intensity versus forward scatter parameter has been used to monitor and compare different subpopulations during growth phases on both glucose and xylose in batch cultures. Flow cytometric results have revealed that the observed differences in the proportion of each subpopulation were related to the specific growth phase and lipid content of the cells. The highest lipid content and lipid productivity were attained at 82.62%, 4.47 g/L (at 72 h) and 78.41%, 6.21 g/L (at 60 h) on glucose and xylose growth cultures, respectively. The highest biomass, lipid yield and biomass yield were found to be 7.92 g/L (on glucose culture, at 60 h), 20.92% (on glucose culture, at 48 h) and 50.71% (on glucose culture, at 24 h), respectively.     

Effects of T-2 toxin on ethanol production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A trichothecene mycotoxin, T-2 toxin, inhibits several aspects of cellular physiology in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, including protein synthesis and mitochondrial functions. We have studied growth of, glucose utilization by, and ethanol production by S. cerevisiae and show that they are inhibited by T-2 toxin between 20 and 200 micrograms/ml in a dose-dependent manner. At 200 micrograms/ml, T-2 toxin causes cell death. This apparent inhibition of ethanol production was found to be the result of growth inhibition. On the basis of biomass or glucose consumption, T-2 toxin increased the amount of ethanol present in the culture. This suggests that T-2 inhibits oxidative but not fermentative energy metabolism by inhibiting mitochondrial function and shifting glucose catabolism toward ethanol formation. As T-2 toxin does not directly inhibit ethanol production by S. cerevisiae, this system could be used for ethanol production from trichothecene-contaminated grain products.     

Biomass content governs fermentation rate in nitrogen-deficient wine musts

Problematic fermentations are common in the wine industry. Assimilable nitrogen deficiency is the most prevalent cause of sluggish fermentations and can reduce fermentation rates significantly. A lack of nitrogen diminishes a yeast's metabolic activity, as well as the biomass yield, although it has not been clear which of these two interdependent factors is more significant in sluggish fermentations. Under winemaking conditions with different initial nitrogen concentrations, metabolic flux analysis was used to isolate the effects. We quantified yeast physiology and identified key metabolic fluxes. We also performed cell concentration experiments to establish how biomass yield affects the fermentation rate. Intracellular analysis showed that trehalose accumulation, which is highly correlated with ethanol production, could be responsible for sustaining cell viability in nitrogen-poor musts independent of the initial assimilable nitrogen content. Other than the higher initial maintenance costs in sluggish fermentations, the main difference between normal and sluggish fermentations was that the metabolic flux distributions in nitrogen-deficient cultures revealed that the specific sugar uptake rate was substantially lower. The results of cell concentration experiments, however, showed that in spite of lower sugar uptake, adding biomass from sluggish cultures not only reduced the time to finish a problematic fermentation but also was less likely to affect the quality of the resulting wine as it did not alter the chemistry of the must.     

Control of anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway gene expression by eutypine,a toxin from Eutypa lata,in grape cell tissue cultures

Eutypine, 4-hydroxy-3-(3-methyl-3-butene-1-ynyl) benzaldehyde, is a toxin produced by Eutypa lata, the causal agent of Eutypa dieback in grapevine. The effect of the toxin on anthocyanin synthesis has been investigated in Vitis vinifera cv. Gamay cell cultures. At concentrations higher than 200 micromol/L, eutypine reduced anthocyanin accumulation in cells. The reduction in anthocyanin accumulation was proportional to the eutypine concentrations and HPLC analysis showed that eutypine affected the levels of all anthocyanins. The effect of eutypine application on the expression of five genes of the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway, including chalcone synthase (CHS), flavonone-3-hydroxylase (F3H), dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase (LDOX), and UDP glucose-flavonoid 3-O-glucosyl transferase (UFGT) was determined. Expression of CHS, F3H, DFR and LDOXwas not affected by the addition of eutypine to grapevine cell cultures. In contrast, expression of the UFGT gene was dramatically inhibited by the toxin. These results suggest that in grapevine cell cultures, eutypine strongly affects anthocyanin accumulation by inhibiting UFGT gene expression. The mechanism of action of eutypine is discussed.