Optimization of docosahexaenoic acid production by Schizochytrium limacinum SR21

Culture conditions of Schizochytrium limacinum SR21 for the purpose of microbial docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) production were investigated. The strain SR21 showed a wide tolerance to salinity; that is, the optimum salinity was between 50% and 200% that of sea water. Monosaccharides (glucose and fructose) and glycerol supported good cell growth and DHA yield. Di- and polysaccharides, oleic acid, and linseed oil gave low DHA yields. A high content of DHA (more than 30% of total fatty acids) was obtained from culture on glucose, fructose, and glycerol, and also the strain had simple polyunsaturated fatty acid profiles. The major polyunsaturated fatty acids other than DHA were n-6 docosapentaenoic acid only, and the contents of icosapentaenoic acid and arachidonic acid were less than 1%. Using corn steep liquor as a nitrogen source, a high total fatty acid content was obtained. The total fatty acid content in the dry cell weight increased as the concentration of the nitrogen source decreased, reached more than 50%. An increase in carbon source concentration led to a high DHA yield. A maximum DHA yield of more than 4 g/l was obtained in both glucose and glycerol media at 9% and 12% respectively. S. limacinum SR21 was thought to be a promising resource for microbial DHA production yielding a good level of productivity as well as a simple polyunsaturated fatty acid profile. Received: 26 June 1997 / Received revision: 29 August 1997  / Accepted: 19 September 1997     

Rosmarinic acid production by Lavandula vera MM cell-suspension culture

The time courses of growth and rosmarinic acid production by Lavandula vera MM cell suspension were investigated. The uptake of the main nutrients (sucrose, nitrogen, phosphorus, K, Ca, Mg) was followed during cultivation and the data on the physiology of the L. vera MM cell culture are presented. It was established that the cell culture synthesizes rosmarinic acid during the linear phase of growth for a relatively short period (between the 4th and 8th days of cultivation). The influence of sucrose concentration in the nutrient medium on cell growth and accumulation of rosmarinic acid by L. vera MM cell culture was investigated. The results showed that 7% sucrose in the nutrient medium ensured a steady growth of the cell suspension and increased the yield of rosmarinic acid (29.2 g/l dry biomass and 507.5 mg/l rosmarinic acid compared to 13.0 g/l dry biomass and 68.6 mg/l rosmarinic acid for the control cultivation with 3% sucrose). Received: 17 September 1996 / Received revision: 31 January 1997 / Accepted: 1 February 1997     

Efficient production of Thermus protease aqualysin I in Escherichia coli: effects of cloned gene structure and two-stage culture

 The DNA sequence encoding Thermus protease aqualysin I was inserted downstream from a bacteriophage T7 promoter in an expression vector. In the T7 expression system, using a strain lacking an F′ episome, aqualysin I was produced in soluble form without chemical induction. The deletions of part (30 amino acid residues) or all (105 residues) of the C-terminal pro-sequence from the C terminus significantly affected both cellular growth and the production of the enzyme. Complete deletion adversely affected both. In contrast, the 30-residue deletion markedly improved productivity by approximately four times compared to non-deletion, and shortened the time needed for the activation of a precursor to active enzyme. The concentration of inducer isopropyl β-D-thiogalactopyrano-side (IPTG) was varied to examine its effects, and it was found that a low concentration of IPTG improved aqualysin I production. To avoid the inhibitory effects of acetic acid accumulation in the culture medium, the use of other carbon sources besides glucose was examined. When cells were cultivated with glycerol, the acetic acid level remained relatively low, and both good cellular growth and a high level of production were attained. The aqualysin I productivity for a fed-batch culture using two carbon sources, glucose and glycerol, reached more than 150 kU/ml enzymatically active aqualysin I. Received: 19 May 1995/Received revision: 28 July 1995/Accepted: 22 August 1995     

Growth-associated production of poly(hydroxybutyric acid) by Azotobacter beijerinckii from organic nitrogen substrates

Poly(hydroxybutyric acid) (PHB) was produced by a selectant of Azotobacter beijerinckii in media containing only organic nitrogen sources such as N substrates. The chosen compounds were casein peptone, yeast extract, casamino acids and urea, each combined with carbon substrates glucose or sucrose. The PHB was synthesized under growth-associated conditions. The concentrations amounted to more than 50% of cell dry mass on casein peptone/glucose as well as urea/glucose medium within 45 h fermentation time. Corresponding to these yields, productivities of about 0.8 g PHB l⁻¹ h⁻¹ were discovered. The highest values increased to 1.06 g PHB l⁻¹ h⁻¹ on casein peptone/glucose medium and 1.1 g PHB l⁻¹ h⁻¹ on yeast extract/glucose medium after a period of 20 h. It was found that oxygen limitation was essential for successful product formation, as demonstrated earlier. These data from basic research may support further investigations into the use of technical proteins from renewable sources as substrates for PHB production by a strain of A. beijerinckii. Received: 3 June 1997 / Received revision: 29 August 1997 / Accepted: 15 September 1997     

Production of xanthan gum and ice-nucleating material from whey by Xanthomonas campestris pv. translucens

Xanthomonas campestris pv. translucens IFO13599 could produce xanthan gum (18.5 mg/100 mg, lactose) with lactose as the growth substrate in spite of a low level of β-galactosidase. This productivity corresponded to one-fifth that with glucose. This strain could also produce ice-nucleating material having an ice-nucleating temperature, T ₅₀, of −2.8 °C with xanthan gum in the culture broth. We found that this strain produced both materials in whey medium from which the insoluble components had been removed. The production of xanthan with ice-nucleating material reached a maximum after cultivation for 168 h under optimum conditions. Furthermore, the xanthan obtained had a low viscosity because of its variant structure revealed, by TLC and HPLC analyses, to be lacking pyruvic acid. Furthermore, we concluded that this mixture had considerable potential as a regeneratic agent, when compared to other regeneratic agents such as carboxymethylcellulose. Received: 29 August 1997 / Received revision: 17 November 1997 / Accepted: 18 November 1997     

Cultivation of Tetrahymena thermophila in a 1.5-m3 airlift bioreactor

A large-scale cultivation system for the mass cell production and extraction of the protozoon Tetrahymena thermophila has been developed on the basis of a low-cost complex nutrient medium. Cell growth and the production of extracellular proteases were investigated using a 15-l stirred-tank reactor and 13-l and 1500-l airlift reactors. Processes using defined and complex medium formulations were compared. After cell mass production by 1200 l cell suspension in the large airlift bioreactor, two different extraction methods, based on the use of an extraction decanter and a sedimentation procedure, were compared and followed by cell lyophilization. Cell sedimentation was shown to be the more efficient extraction method as it enabled cell retention/separation while preserving the cell structure. Maximum cell growth was achieved in the stirred-tank bioreactor, supporting the hypothesis that higher shear forces reduce the particle size of the medium, which is responsible for an optimized nutrient supply. The highest glucose uptake rates were found in defined medium lacking the nutrient particles that are present in complex medium formulations. The cell-specific proteolytic activity in culture supernatants of airlift bioreactors using complex medium conditions was higher than that of a culture broth with cells grown under defined medium formulations. Received: 24 September 1998 / Received revision: 23 November 1998 / Accepted: 29 November 1998     

Xylose utilisation by recombinant strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on different carbon sources

Autoselective xylose-utilising strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing the xylose reductase (XYL1) and xylitol dehydrogenase (XYL2) genes of Pichia stipitis were constructed by replacing the chromosomal FUR1 gene with a disrupted fur1::LEU2 allele. Anaerobic fermentations with 80 g l⁻¹ d-xylose as substrate showed a twofold higher consumption of xylose in complex medium compared to defined medium. The xylose consumption rate increased a further threefold when 20 g l⁻¹ d-glucose or raffinose was used as co-substrate together with 50 g l⁻¹ d-xylose. Xylose consumption was higher with raffinose as co-substrate than with glucose (85% versus 71%, respectively) after 82 h fermentations. A high initial ethanol concentration and moderate levels of glycerol and acetic acid accompanied glucose as co-substrate, whereas the ethanol concentration gradually increased with raffinose as co-substrate with no glycerol and much less acetic acid formation. Received: 12 March 1999 / Received revision: 31 June 1999 / Accepted: 5 July 1999     

Effect of soybean oil and glucose on sophorose lipid fermentation by Torulopsis bombicola in continuous culture

The effect of soybean oil and glucose on the growth of Torulopsis bombicola and sophorose lipid production in continuous culture was investigated. As the dilution rate in 100 g/l glucose and 100 g/l soybean oil medium was increased, the dry cell weight and sophorose lipid concentration decreased. Sophorose lipid productivity, however, was maximum at a dilution rate of 0.03 h⁻¹. The cell yield from glucose and the sophorose lipid production from soybean oil were approximately constant regardless of the dilution rate. The specific consumption rate of soybean oil was closely related to the specific production rate of sophorose lipid. These results suggest that soybean oil was used only for sophorose lipid production whereas glucose was used only for cell mass and maintenance. When the soybean oil concentration was varied at fixed dilution rate in 100 g/l glucose medium, a high concentration of soybean oil was found to inhibit sophorose lipid production. Received: 9 January 1997 / Received revision: 5 March 1997 / Accepted: 13 April 1997     

High volumetric yields of functional dimeric miniantibodies in Escherichia coli,using an optimized expression vector and high-cell-density fermentation under non-limited growth conditions

Functional bivalent miniantibodies, directed against the epidermal growth factor receptor, accumulated to more than 3 gl⁻¹ in high-cell-density cultures of Escherichia coli RV308(pHKK) on a pilot scale. The miniantibodies consist of scFv fragments with a C-termi-nal hinge followed by a helix-turn-helix motif, which homodimerizes in vivo. The improved expression vector pHKK is characterized by the hok/sok suicide system, improving plasmid maintenance, and the inducible lac p/o promoter system with the very strong T7g10 Shine-Dalgarno sequence. The expression unit is flanked by terminators. The prototrophic RV308 cells were cultivated in glucose mineral salt medium and reached a cell density of 145 g dry biomass l⁻¹ after 33 h. After induction, growth continued almost unchanged for a further 4 h with concomitant miniantibody formation. In the fed-batch phase, the concentration of glucose was kept almost constant at the physiological level of approximately 1.5 g l⁻¹, using on-line flow injection analysis for control. Surprisingly, E. coli RV308(pHKK) did not accumulate significant amounts of the metabolic by-product acetate under these unlimited aerobic growth conditions. Received: 26 February 1996 / Received revision: 1 August 1996 / Accepted: 12 August 1996     

Phenol inhibition kinetics for growth of Acetobacter aceti on ethanol

Acetobacter aceti have been grown on ethanol under inhibitory conditions created by high concentrations of phenol. A defined medium with no vitamin or amino acid supplements has been used such that ethanol was the sole carbon substrate. The culture temperature was maintained at 30 °C while the pH was manually controlled to fall within the range 4.5–6.0 during ethanol consumption. Growth on ethanol at a few thousand milligrams per litre (below the known inhibitory level) resulted in a maximum specific growth rate of 0.16 h⁻¹ with a 95% yield of acetic acid, followed immediately by acetic acid consumption at a growth rate of 0.037 h⁻¹. Phenol was found to inhibit growth by decreasing both the specific growth rate and the biomass yield during ethanol consumption. On the other hand, the yield of acetic acid during ethanol consumption and the yield of biomass during acetic acid consumption remained constant, independent of phenol inhibition. A model is presented and is shown to represent the phenol-inhibited growth behaviour of A. aceti during both ethanol and acetic acid consumption. Received: 6 November 1998 / Received revision: 8 February 1999 / Accepted: 12 February 1999     

Growth-associated synthesis of recombinant human glucagon and human growth hormone in high-cell-density cultures of Escherichia coli

Synthesis of two recombinant proteins (human glucagon and human growth hormone) was investigated in fed-batch cultures at high cell concentrations of recombinant Escherichia coli. The glucose-limited growth was achieved without accumulation of metabolic by-products and hence the cellular environment is presumed invariable during growth and recombinant protein synthesis. Via exponential feeding in the two-phase fed-batch operation, the specific cell growth rate was successfully controlled at the desired rates and the fed-batch mode employed is considered appropriate for examining the correlation between the specific growth rate and the efficiency of recombinant product formation in the recombinant E. coli strains. The two recombinant proteins were expressed as fusion proteins and the concentration in the culture broth was increased to 15 g fusion growth hormone l⁻¹ and 7 g fusion glucagon l⁻¹. The fusion growth hormone was initially expressed as soluble protein but seemed to be gradually aggregated into inclusion bodies as the expression level increased, whereas the synthesized fusion glucagon existed as a cytoplasmic soluble protein during the whole induction period. The stressful conditions of cultivation employed (i.e. high-cell-density cultivation at low growth rate) may induce the increased production of various host-derived chaperones and thereby enhance the folding efficiency of synthesized heterologous proteins. The synthesis of the recombinant fusion proteins was strongly growth-dependent and more efficient at a higher specific growth rate. The mechanism linking specific growth rate with recombinant protein productivity is likely to be related to the change in cellular ribosomal content. Received: 27 May 1997 / Received last revision: 31 October 1997 / Accepted: 21 November 1997     

Elucidation of the mechanism of lactic acid growth inhibition and production in batch cultures of Lactobacillus rhamnosus

Batch cultures of Lactobacillus rhamnosus were carried out at different pH values in order to study the limitation of growth and lactic acid production by the hydrogen ion, non-dissociated lactic acid and internal lactate concentrations. The effect of pH between 5 and 6.8 was studied at non-limiting concentrations of glucose; this is more significant for the lactic acid fermentation rate than for the maximum specific growth rate, as shown by the incomplete substrate consumption at lower values of medium pH and by the constant maximum cell mass obtained within the range of pH values studied. To check whether these results were a direct consequence of the different concentrations of the non-dissociated form of lactic acid at different external pH values, specific growth rates and lactic acid productions rates were calculated for each external pH value. The same specific growth rates were observed at the same non-dissociated lactic acid concentrations only at pH values of 5 and 5.5. For higher values of pH (pH > 6) the specific growth rate falls to zero as the non-dissociated lactic acid concentration decreases. This shows that generalisations made from studies performed within very narrow ranges of pH are not valid and that the non-dissociated form of lactic acid is not the only inhibiting species. The internal pH was measured experimentally for each external pH value in order to calculate the internal lactate ion concentration. This form is described to be the inhibitory one. The results obtained confirmed that the specific growth rate reached zero at approximately the same lactate concentration for all the pH values studied. Received: 31 January 1997 / Received revision: 15 May 1997 / Accepted: 19 May 1997     

Production of polyhydroxyalkanoic acids by Ralstonia eutropha and Pseudomonas oleovorans from an oil remaining from biotechnological rhamnose production

Screening experiments identified several bacteria which were able to use residual oil from biotechnological rhamnose production as a carbon source for growth. Ralstonia eutropha H16 and Pseudomonas oleovorans were able to use this waste material as the sole carbon source for growth and for the accumulation of polyhydroxyalkanoic acids (PHA). R. eutropha and P. oleovorans accumulated PHA amounting to 41.3% and 38.9%, respectively, of the cell dry mass, when these strains were cultivated in mineral salt medium with the oil from the rhamnose production as the sole carbon source. The accumulated PHA isolated from R. eutropha consisted of only 3-hydroxybutyric acid, whereas the PHA isolated from P. oleovorans consisted of 3-hydroxyhexanoic acid, 3-hydroxyoctanoic acid, 3-hydroxy decanoic acid, and 3-hydroxydodecanoic acid. The composition was confirmed by gas chromatography of the isolated polyesters. Batch and fed-batch cultivations in stirred-tank reactors were done. Received: 15 June 1999 / Received revision: 10 August 1999 / Accepted: 13 August 1999     

Effects of yeast extract and glucose on xanthan production and cell growth in batch culture of Xanthomonas campestris

Although available kinetic data provide a useful insight into the effects of medium composition on xanthan production by Xanthomonas campestris, they cannot account for the synergetic effects of carbon (glucose) and nitrogen (yeast extract) substrates on cell growth and xanthan production. In this work, we studied the effects of the glucose/yeast-extract ratio (G/YE) in the medium on cell growth and xanthan production in various operating modes, including batch, two-stage batch, and fed-batch fermentations. In general, both the xanthan yield and specific production rate increased with increasing G/YE in the medium, but the cell yield and specific growth rate decreased as G/YE increased. A two-stage batch fermentation with a G/YE shift from an initial low level (2.5% glucose/0.3% yeast extract) to a high level (5.0% glucose/0.3% yeast extract) at the end of the exponential growth phase was found to be preferable for xanthan production. This two-stage fermentation design both provided fast cell growth and gave a high xanthan yield and xanthan production rate. In contrast, fed-batch fermentation with intermittent additions of glucose to the fermentor during the stationary phase was not favorable for xanthan production because of the relatively low G/YE resulting in low xanthan production rate and yield. It is also important to use a moderately high yeast extract concentration in the medium in order to reach a high cell density before the culture enters the stationary phase. A high cell density is also important to the overall xanthan production rate. Received: 30 September 1996 / Received revision: 21 January 1997 / Accepted: 10 February 1997     

Nutrient-split feeding strategy for dialysis cultivation of Escherichia coli

Reduction in nutrient loss during dialysis cultivation of Escherichia coli on a glycerol medium was investigated. A dialysis reactor with an inner fermentation and an outer dialysis chamber was used. Aerobic condition was maintained by limiting the glycerol feed rate to an optimum value which was estimated from the oxygen requirements for glycerol oxidation and oxygen transfer capacity of the reactor. High reduction in nutrient loss was achieved by using water as the dialyzing fluid. However, osmotic movement of water from the dialysis to the fermentation chamber was observed, and the final cell concentration was low. With a nutrient-split feeding strategy (feeding glycerol directly to the fermentation chamber and dialyzing with salt solution), glycerol loss was small, there was no osmotic flux of water to the fermentation chamber, and the cell concentration was high. Both glycerol and salt loss could be avoided, and a cell concentration of 170 g/L was obtained when the dialysis process was substituted by addition of XAD adsorbents to the dialysis chamber. Application of this nutrient-split feeding strategy to cell cultivation in a stirred tank reactor, coupled with dialysis in external dialyzer modules, resulted in low cell concentrations. (c) 1993 Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Critical factors in chitin production by fermentation of shrimp biowaste

Factors affecting Lactobacillus fermentation of shrimp waste for chitin and protein liquor production were determined. The objective of the fermentation is medium conditioning by Lactobacillus through production of proteases and lowering of the pH. The efficiency was tested by conducting fermentation of biowaste in 1-l beakers with or without pH adjustment using different acids. Addition of 5% glucose to the biowaste supported the growth of lactic acid bacteria and led to better fermentation. Among four acids tested to control pH at the start and during fermentation, acetic acid and citric acid proved to be the most effective. In biowaste fermented with 6.7% L. plantarum inoculum, 5% glucose, and pH 6.0 adjusted with acetic acid, 75% deproteination and 86% demineralization was achieved. Replacement of acetic acid by citric acid gave 88% deproteination and 90% demineralization. The fermentation carried out in the presence of acetic acid resulted in a protein fraction that smelled good and a clean chitin fraction. Received: 4 April 2000 / Received revision: 9 June 2000 / Accepted: 9 June 2000     

Extracellular reduction of selenite by a novel marine photosynthetic bacterium

A novel purple nonsulfur bacterium strain NKPB030619, which has resistance to over 5 mM selenite, was isolated from a marine environment. An initial concentration of 1.1 mM selenite, added to the medium, was decreased to under 0.05 mM within 5 days. The color of the cell suspension turned red within 2 days. The red coloration gradually decreased and black precipitates appeared during 2 weeks of cultivation. Under these conditions, two main types of deposit were formed extracellularly. These deposits were thought to contain red amorphous selenium and black vitreous selenium. The selenite reduction to elemental selenium in this bacterium was induced by the introduction of light and l-malic acid under anaerobic conditions. These results suggest that selenite reduction is coupled with photosynthesis and l-malic acid can serve as the indirect electron donor for its reduction. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rDNA sequence showed that NKPB0360619 belongs to the α subdivision of Proteobacteria and is classified into the Rhodobacter species. The highest similarity of 86.2% was observed with R. sphaeroides. Received: 13 August 1996 / Received last revision: 6 May 1997 / Accepted: 11 May 1997     

Glucoamylase production in batch, chemostat and fed-batch cultivations by an industrial strain of Aspergillus niger

The Aspergillus niger strain BO-1 was grown in batch, continuous (chemostat) and fed-batch cultivations in order to study the production of the extracellular enzyme glucoamylase under different growth conditions. In the pH range 2.5–6.0, the specific glucoamylase productivity and the specific growth rate of the fungus were independent of pH when grown in batch cultivations. The specific glucoamylase producivity increased linearly with the specific growth rate in the range 0–0.1 h⁻¹ and was constant in the range 0.1–0.2 h⁻¹. Maltose and maltodextrin were non-inducing carbon sources compared to glucose, and the maximum specific growth rate was 0.19 ± 0.02 h⁻¹ irrespective of whether glucose or maltose was the carbon source. In fed-batch cultivations, glucoamylase titres of up to 6.5 g l⁻¹ were obtained even though the strain contained only one copy of the glaA gene. Received: 5 May 1999 / Received revision: 7 September 1999 / Accepted: 17 September 1999     

Bioconversion of alpha pinene to verbenone by resting cells of Aspergillus niger

Resting cells of a locally isolated strain of Aspergillus niger caused the bioconversion of alpha pinene to verbenone. The formation of verbenone was raised from trace amounts (under screening conditions) to 3.28 mg/100 ml (equivalent to a molar yield of 16.5% conversion of the substrate) by amending the cultivation medium for the fungus. The optimal conditions were: 6 g/100 ml for the glucose concentration, a pH of 7.0, an alpha pinene concentration of 20 mg/100 ml, and a 6-h incubation period for the reaction. Received: 9 August 1999 / Received revision: 24 September 1999 / Accepted: 24 September 1999     

Optimization of microbial transglutaminase production using experimental designs

In prokaryotes, transglutaminase (TGase) has been found only in actinomycetes from the genus Streptoverticillium. The role of this TGase, as well as the mechanism regulating the enzyme expression, are still unknown. In order to improve TGase production by Streptoverticillium cinnamoneum CBS 683.68 and simultaneously elucidate the relationship between growth and TGase activity, we decided to study these two responses using different designs of statistical analysis. Among the five factors tested, casein, glycerol, peptones, yeast extract and oligoelements, only oligoelements were found to have no effect either on growth or on TGase production in a complete factorial design. The two factors casein and glycerol were found to have a highly significant effect on both dry weights and TGase activity in a Box-Behnken design used to improve the model. Finally, the TGase activity was increased three times to reach 0.331±0.038 U/ml with optimum concentrations of casein (38.4 g/l) and glycerol (31.2 g/l) calculated with the help of a composite design. In the course of these experiments, the two responses varied in the same way, demonstrating that growth and TGase production were tightly correlated under the conditions described. However, TGase was produced during the stationary phase of growth in optimized medium, indicating that the enzyme production could be induced. Received: 23 July 1997 / Accepted: 25 August 1997