Microbial production of vitamin B12

One of the most alluring and fascinating molecules in the world of science and medicine is vitamin B12 (cobalamin), which was originally discovered as the anti pernicious anemia factor and whose enigmatic complex structure is matched only by the beguiling chemistry that it mediates. The biosynthesis of this essential nutrient is intricate, involved and, remarkably, confined to certain members of the prokaryotic world, seemingly never have to have made the eukaryotic transition. In humans, the vitamin is required in trace amounts (approximately 1 microg/day) to assist the actions of only two enzymes, methionine synthase and (R)-methylmalonyl-CoA mutase; yet commercially more than 10 t of B12 are produced each year from a number of bacterial species. The rich scientific history of vitamin B12 research, its biological functions and the pathways employed by bacteria for its de novo synthesis are described. Current strategies for the improvement of vitamin B12 production using modern biotechnological techniques are outlined.     

Novel fermentation process strengthening strategy for production of propionic acid and vitamin B12 by Propionibacterium freudenreichii

An efficient fermentation-strengthening approach was developed to improve the anaerobic production of propionic acid and vitamin B12 by co-fermentation with Propionibacterium freudenreichii. Vitamin B12 production from glucose resulted in relatively high productivity (0.35 mg/L h) but a low propionic acid yield (0.55 g/g). By contrast, glycerol gave a high propionic acid yield (0.63 g/g) but low productivity (0.16 g/L h). Co-fermentation of glycerol and glucose with a gradual addition strategy gave high yields (propionic acid: 0.71 g/g; vitamin B12: 0.72 mg/g) and productivities (propionic acid: 0.36 g/L h; vitamin B12: 0.36 mg/L h). Finally, the integrated feedstock and fermentation system strengthening strategy was demonstrated as an efficient method for the economic production of bio-based propionic acid and vitamin B12.     

Production of vitamin B12 by immobilized cells of a propionic acid bacterium

Summary The ability of immobilized cells of propionic acid bacteria to form vitamin B₁₂ has been investigated. Propionibacterium arl AKU 1251 having a considerable activity to produce the vitamin was selected as a test organism among six strains of propionic acid bacteria tested. The whole cells were entrapped with urethane prepolymers, photo-crosslinkable resin prepolymers or several other materials such as -carrageenan, agar or sodium alginate, and their vitamin B₁₂ productivity was compared. Based on the criteria of the convenience of preparation and the stability of the cell-entrapping gels, a hydrophilic urethane prepolymer, PU-9, was employed as gel material. Satisfactory vitamin B₁₂ production was obtained when 5–10 g of wet cells precultured to the late exponential growth phase were entrapped with 1 g of the prepolymer. Addition of a suitable amount of cobaltous ion and of 5,6-dimethyl benzimidazole to the culture medium was effective for the production of the vitamin by the immobilized cells. The repeated use of the immobilized cells was successfully achieved when a suitable amount of cells were entrapped and allowed the proliferation of cells inside gel matrices.     

Sensitivity of Sherman's propionic acid bacilli to antibacterial preparations and vitamin B12 synthesis

Sherman propionic acid bacilli were sensitive to benzylpenicillin, ampicillin, ceporin, tetracyclines, oleandomycin, oletetrin, tetraolean, sigmamycin, levomycetin and furadonine. Methicillin, oxacillin, monomycin, kanamycin, polymyxin and furazolidone had an insignificant effect on the above organism. The subbacteriostatic concentrations of methicillin, oxacillin, streptomycin, monomycin, kanamycin, neomycin, tetraolean, sigmamycin, polymyxin M and ristomycin increased the biosynthesis of vitamin B12 by Sherman propionic acid bacilli, while benzylpenicillin, ampicillin, tetracyclines, oleandomycin, oletetrin, levomycetin and furadonine in the subbacteriostatic concentrations inhibited this process.     

低成本绿色循环工艺发酵生产丙酸联产维生素B12

对提取维生素B12后的费氏丙酸杆菌废菌体进行水解处理,考察以菌体水解液作为N源用于丙酸发酵的可行性.利用正交设计得到了提取维生素B12后的废菌体水解优化条件.基于此,构建利用植物纤维床反应器固定化生产丙酸联产维生素B12的低成本绿色循环工艺.结果表明:在4.5L的发酵体系中,单批次总糖质量浓度为200 g/L,发酵进行了5批次共1192h,丙酸生成总量为2 328.75 g,单批次丙酸质量浓度103.50 g/L,丙酸生产效率达0.43 g/(L·h),干菌质量浓度达到19.52 g/L.将菌体注入微好氧发酵罐中发酵获得112.8 mg/L维生素B12.     

Isolation of cobalt-resistant strains of propionic acid bacteria, potent producers of vitamin B12

A method of adaptation to cobalt nitrate at high concentrations allowed us to isolate 46 strains of propionic acid bacteria Propionibacterium acidipropionici, resistant to excessive amounts of Co2+ in the medium. Studies of these strains revealed cultures that were most potent in synthesizing vitamin B12. The yield of vitamin B12 was increased 3 times, compared to parent strains.     

Simultaneous production of propionic acid and vitamin B12 from corn stalk hydrolysates by Propionibacterium freudenreichii in an expanded bed adsorption bioreactor

Abstract

Vitamin B12 and propionic acid that were simultaneous produced by Propionibacterium freudenreichii are both favorable chemicals widely used in food preservatives, medicine, and nutrition. While the carbon source and propionic acid accumulation reflected fermentation efficiency. In this study, using corn stalk as a carbon source and fed-batch fermentation process in an expanded bed adsorption bioreactor was studied for efficient and economic biosynthesis of acid vitamin B12 and propionic. With liquid hot water pretreated corn stalk hydrolysates as carbon source, 28.65?mg L^?1 of vitamin B12 and 17.05?g L^?1 of propionic acid were attained at 168?h in batch fermentation. In order to optimize the fermentation outcomes, fed-batch fermentation was performed with hydrolyzed corn stalk in expanded bed adsorption bioreactor (EBAB), giving 47.6?mg L^?1 vitamin B12 and 91.4?g L^?1 of propionic acid at 258?h, which correspond to product yields of 0.37?mg g^?1 and 0.75?g g^?1, respectively. The present study provided a promising strategy for economically sustainable production of vitamin B12 and propionic acid by P. freudenreichii fermentation using biomass cornstalk as carbon source and expanded bed adsorption bioreactor.     

Novel strategy using an adsorbent-column chromatography for effective ethanol production from sugarcane or sugar beet molasses

Molasses-based distilleries generate large volumes of a highly polluted and dark brown-colored wastewater. The present work describes the way in which an adsorbent-column chromatography can effectively remove the colorant and produce biomass ethanol from sugarcane or sugar beet molasses. It was found that the color and chemical oxygen demand of the resulting wastewater was respectively reduced by approximately 87% and 28% as compared with conventional molasses fermentation. Gas chromatography showed that the decolorized molasses maintained good ethanol productivity almost equal to that of the original molasses. Furthermore, it was revealed that the colorant concentrations of about 5 mg ml⁻¹ in the medium were the most favorable for ethanolic fermentation. In summary, we have concluded that this method is the most effective when the adsorbent chromatography is performed just before molasses fermentation and that the decolorized molasses is an ideal substrate for fuel ethanol production.     

Improved production of propionic acid using genome shuffling

Traditionally derived from fossil fuels, biological production of propionic acid has recently gained interest. Propionibacterium species produce propionic acid as their main fermentation product. Production of other organic acids reduces propionic acid yield and productivity, pointing to by‐products gene‐knockout strategies as a logical solution to increase yield. However, removing by‐product formation has seen limited success due to our inability to genetically engineer the best producing strains (i.e. Propionibacterium acidipropionici). To overcome this limitation, random mutagenesis continues to be the best path towards improving strains for biological propionic acid production. Recent advances in next generation sequencing opened new avenues to understand improved strains. In this work, we use genome shuffling on two wild type strains to generate a better propionic acid producing strain. Using next generation sequencing, we mapped the genomic changes leading to the improved phenotype. The best strain produced 25% more propionic acid than the wild type strain. Sequencing of the strains showed that genomic changes were restricted to single point mutations and gene duplications in well‐conserved regions in the genomes. Such results confirm the involvement of gene conversion in genome shuffling as opposed to long genomic insertions.     

Microbial production of propionic acid from propionibacteria: Current state,challenges and perspectives

Propionic acid (PA) is an important building block chemical and finds a variety of applications in organic synthesis, food, feeding stuffs, perfume, paint and pharmaceutical industries. Presently, PA is mainly produced by petrochemical route. With the continuous increase in oil prices, public concern about environmental pollution, and the consumers’ desire for bio-based natural and green ingredients in foods and pharmaceuticals, PA production from propionibacteria has attracted considerable attention, and substantial progresses have been made on microbial PA production. However, production of PA by propionibacteria is facing challenges such as severe inhibition of end-products during cell growth and the formation of by-products (acetic acid and succinic acid). The integration of reverse metabolic engineering and systematic metabolic engineering provides an opportunity to significantly improve the acid tolerance of propionibacteria and reduce the formation of by-products, and makes it feasible to strengthen the commercial competition of biotechnological PA production from propionibacteria to be comparable to the petrochemical route.     

Citric acid production from sugar cane molasses by 2-deoxyglucose-resistant mutant strain ofAspergillus niger

Citric acid production from sugar cane molasses byAspergillus niger NIAB 280 was studied in a batch cultivation process. A maximum of 90 g/L total sugar was utilized in citric acid production medium. From the parental strainA. niger, mutant strains showing resistance to 2-deoxyglucose in Vogal's medium containing molasses as a carbon source were induced by γ-irradiation. Among the new series of mutant strains, strain RP7 produced 120 g/L while the parental strain produced 80 g/L citric acid (1.5-fold improvement) from 150 g/L of molasses sugars. The period of citric acid production was shortened from 10 d for the wild-type strain to 6–7 d for the mutant strain. The efficiency of substrate uptake rate with respect to total volume substrate consumption rate,Q _s (g per L per h) and specific substrate consumption rate,q _s (g substrate per g cells per h) revealed that the mutant grew faster than its parent. This indicated that the selected mutant is insensitive to catabolite repression by higher concentrations of sugars for citric acid production. With respect to the product yield coefficient (Y _p/x), volume productivity (Q _p) and specific product yields (q _p), the mutant strain is significantly (p≤0.05) improved over the parental strain.     

Relationships between biotin and vitamin B12. Effects of biotin and vitamin B12 on folic acid metabolism

1. The effects of dietary biotin compared with vitamin B₁₂ on the total content and on the distribution of the various folate derivatives in the liver of rats given a biotin-free diet have been studied. The effect of both vitamins on the conversion in vitro of folic acid into citrovorum factor in the same experimental conditions was also examined. 2. In biotin-treated rats as well as in vitamin B₁₂-treated rats the total content of folic acid-active substances measured microbiologically by Pediococcus cerevisiae, Streptococcus faecalis and Lactobacillus casei is significantly higher than that in biotin-deficient rats. The liver distribution of various folate derivatives in the three groups of animals is also markedly modified. 3. The amount of citrovorum factor formed in systems with liver homogenate of rats receiving biotin or vitamin B₁₂ is higher than that with liver homogenates of deficient rats. 4. The results obtained demonstrate the influence of biotin in the metabolism of folic acid, and the similar actions at this level of both biotin and vitamin B₁₂. These results are discussed in relation to the participation of the two vitamins in the metabolism of C₁ units, as a biochemical interpretation of the relationships between vitamin B₁₂ and biotin.     

Utilization of non-sugar sources for vitamin B12 production

Assimilation of non-sugar carbon sources for vitamin B(12) production was studied.     

Continuous ethanol production from sugar beet molasses using an osmotolerant mutant strain of Zymomonas mobilis

A laboratory process was established for ethanol production by fermentation of sugar beet molasses with the bacterium Zymomonas mobilis. Sucrose in the molasses was hydrolyzed enzymatically to prevent levan formation. A continuous system was adopted to reduce sorbitol formation and a two-stage fermentor was used to enhance sugar conversion and the final ethanol concentration. This two-stage fermentor operated stably for as long as 18 d. An ethanol concentration of 59.9 g/l was obtained at 97% sugar conversion and at high ethanol yield (0.48 g/g, 94% of theoretical). The volumetric ethanol productivity (3.0 g/l·h) was superior to that of batch fermentation but inferior to that of a single-stage continuous system with the same medium. However, the thanol concentration was increased to a level acceptable for economical recovery. The process proposed in this paper is the first report of successful fermentation of sugar beet molasses in the continuous mode using the bacterium Z. mobilis.