Biotechnological methods for the up-grading and modification of animal waste fats

The possibility of producing monoacyloglycerols (MAGs) from poultry fat or beef tallow using selected microorganisms or enzymatic glycerolysis was established. The highest content of MAGs (16.21–17.63% w/w) in the lipids was obtained after the cultivation of Candida lipolytica on a medium with poultry fat. The concentration of MAGs in the lipids which remained in the medium was influenced by the microorganisms strains and their cultivation conditions. The yield of MAGs obtained by the enzymatic glycerolysis of poultry fat or beef tallow ranged from 3.52% to 55.10% w/w, respectively.     

Enhanced activity of intracellular lipases from Rhizomucor miehei and Yarrowia lipolytica by immobilization on biomass support particles

The aim of this investigation was to obtain an efficiently immobilized intracellular lipase from Rhizomucor miehei and Yarrowia lipolytica. The activity of intracellular lipases from R. miehei and Y. lipolytica was enhanced by the addition of waste fats (beef tallow or poultry fat) to the medium and by cell immobilization on biomass support particles (BSPs, cubic particle of polypropylene or polyurethane foams). The highest intracellular activity of lipases was obtained after adding 20 and 50 BSPs to the medium of R. miehei (130.5 U) and Y. lipolytica (90.3 U), respectively. The best carrier for immobilizing intracellular lipases was polyurethane foam and the lipolytic activity of immobilized lipases was 2.1–4.3-times higher than the activity of lipases obtained from free biomass. The properties of the immobilized enzymes were very similar to the free enzymes but the immobilized intracellular lipases were more useful for the hydrolysis of waste fats. The highest reaction ratio (72%) and content of free fatty acids (68% (w/w)) in the reaction mixture was obtained after 72 h for beef tallow hydrolysis in a batch reaction with the immobilized lipases from R. miehei.     

Production of alkaline serine protease subtilisin Carlsberg by Bacillus licheniformis on complex medium in a stirred tank reactor

Bacillus licheniformis (DSM 641) was cultivated on complex medium in batch and fed-batch operations in a 20-l working volume stirred tank reactor. The medium composition (maltose, glucose, sucrose, fructose, ammonia, phosphate) and O₂ and CO₂ in the off-gas were monitored on-line; pH, pO₂, turbidity, culture fluorescence were monitored in situ; optical density, concentrations of sugars, amino acids, phosphate, proteins, DNA, protease activity and total solids content were monitored off-line. Problems of on-line sampling, cell concentration monitoring, and culture fluorescence measurements and the influence of medium components on the enzyme productivity are discussed. Close relationships between variations of pH, pO₂, O₂ transfer rate and CO₂ production rate on the one hand and cell mass and fluorescence intensity on the other were demonstrated in batch and in fed-batch cultures. Using suitable cultivation conditions, alkaline protease with high volume activity [15300 units (U)/ml] and specific activity (510 U/mg) was produced. By replacing the complex medium with a semisynthetic one, the volumetric activity was reduced by a factor of ten (to 1650 U/ml), but the specific productivity by a factor of only two (to 210 U/ml). Correspondence to: K. Schügerl     

Hydrolysis of animall fats by lipase at temperatures below their melting points

Summary We have studied the hydrolysis of high melting animal fats by the lipase fromCandida rugosa at temperatures between 20°C and 37°C without the addition of surfactants or organic solvents. To establish the practical applications of this process we investigated the optimal conditions of the reaction at high substrate concentrations (50% fat w/v) to achieve 95% hydrolysis (or better) in 24 hours. Experiments were conducted in solid emulsions without constant stirring (500 ml total reaction volume). Under all conditions tested, edible pork lard was a better substrate than inedible beef tallow yielding up to 96% hydrolysis with as low as 0.3 g lipase/Kg fat or 98% hydrolysis with 0.5 g lipase/Kg fat. The optimum temperature for the hydrolysis of edible pork lard was around 30°C. Inedible beef tallow and pork lard did not exhibit a clear optimum temperature. Inedible lard gave results intermediate between those of edible lard and inedible beef tallow.     

Russian Article pp. 207–211

During the submerged cultivation of Trichoderma sp. 414 on a medium with 2% cellulose containing plant substrats an enzyme system – exocellobiohydrolase (C₁-enzyme), endogluconase (C_x-enzyme), β-glucosidase and xylase – catalizing the cellulose hydrolysis was synthesized. The process of enzyme biosynthesis by the microbial strain under the conditions of two-step cultivation in flasks was optimized. The influence of different sources of carbohydrate – avicel, micricel, maize stalk and straw – on the activity of the synthesized enzymes was studied. This activity depends on induction properties and the concentration of the used substrats. During the cultivation of Trichoderma sp. 414 on a medium containing avicel and wheat bran the activity of cellobiohydrolase reaches 40 U/ml and this of endogluconase – 520 U/ml. When the cultivation was performed on a medium containing wheat bran and straw the activity of xylanase reaches 240 U/ml.     

Extracellular deoxyribonuclease production by a thermophile, Streptomyces thermonitrificans

A thermophilic bacterial strain, Streptomyces thermonitrificans, produced high levels of extracellular deoxyribonuclease (DNase) when grown on NBG medium (containing 1% peptone, 0.3% beef extract, 1% glucose and 0.5% NaCl). Maximum DNase activity (140 U ml⁻¹) was obtained, in 24 h, when the culture was grown on modified NBG medium (containing 1.3% beef extract, 1% glucose, 0.5% NaCl and 50 μM Mn²⁺ at 45°C. The crude enzyme showed higher activity on native DNA than on sonicated and heat denatured DNA. Moreover, addition of Mn²⁺ in the assay mixture resulted in a significant stimulation (10–15 fold) of the enzyme activity. Received 24 November 1998/ Accepted in revised form 25 April 1999     

Thermostable α-amylase from derepressed Bacillus licheniformis produced in high yields from glucose

High yields of thermostable α-amylase was produced by Bacillus licheniformis 44MB82-G, resistant to glucose catabolite repression, on the basis of inexpensive raw materials and glucose as a main carbon source. The optimal parameters for the α-amylase production were an agitation rate of 500 rpm, constant air-flow rate (1 vvm) and cultivation temperature 40°C. An enzyme activity of 4800–5000 U/ml culture medium was reached in 96–120 h. The α-amylase preparation had the following characteristics: α-amylase activity 55 000 U/ml, high thermostability (98% residual α-amylase activity after 10 min treatment at 90°C), protein content 88 mg/ml and dry substances 30%.     

Growth of three fungi on poultry fat or beef tallow

Aspergillus niger, Geotrichum candidum and Mucor miehei, when grown on a medium containing beef tallow or poultry fat for 5 days at 28°C, in Roux bottles, shake-flasks or fermenters, synthesized from 0.4 to 3.2 g lipids/I. The degree of fat utilization varied from 15 to 70%. The type of fat in the medium, the species of fungi and its cultivation method all influenced the fatty acid composition of fats remaining in the medium, as well as the intracellular lipids of the fungi.     

多拷贝毕赤酵母重组菌表达GCL摇瓶优化和高密度发酵

目的:构建高效表达白地霉脂肪酶的毕赤酵母重组菌株,并对筛选得到的菌株进行摇瓶发酵条件优化和分批补料高密度发酵工艺研究。方法:将诱导型表达载体pPIC9K-gcl电转化至毕赤酵母GS115。通过橄榄油-罗丹明B平板和摇瓶发酵筛选高脂肪酶活力的重组菌株,运用基于TaqMan探针的实时荧光定量PCR 法确定其拷贝数,并对菌株进行摇瓶发酵条件优化。在此基础上,研究重组菌在3L 发酵罐中的高密度发酵工艺。结果:筛选得到一株具有3 个白地霉脂肪酶基因拷贝的菌株GS115/pPIC9K-gcl 78#,初始酶活力为220 U/ml。当摇瓶发酵条件为甲醇诱导96 h,每24 h甲醇添加量1 %,接种量2 %,培养基初始pH 7.0,500 ml摇瓶装液量50 ml,甲醇诱导温度25℃ 时酶活力达735 U/ml。3L 发酵罐高密度发酵176.5 h,酶活力达到3360 U/ml,总蛋白含量达到4.30 g/L,且发酵过程中细胞活性一直保持在96 % 以上。结论:基因拷贝数与重组菌株的产酶水平呈正相关,摇瓶优化可显著提高重组菌株的产酶能力,为白地霉脂肪酶的工业化生产奠定了技术基础。     

Recombinant production of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Penicillium oxalicum</Emphasis> PJ3 phytase in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pichia Pastoris</Emphasis>

The 1,332 bp phytase gene of Penicillium oxalicum PJ3 was inserted into the expression vector, pPICZαA and expressed in the methylotrophic yeast, Pichia pastoris as an active, extracellular phytase. The recombinant phytase reached a maximum yield of 12 U/ml of medium at 120 h of cultivation after methanol induction under shake-flask conditions. The enzyme was glycosylated, with a molecular mass of about 62.5 kDa. The Michaelis constant (K _m) and maximum reaction rate (V _max) for sodium phytate was 0.37 mM and 526.3 U/mg of protein, respectively. The optimal activity occurred at pH 4.5 and 55°C. Jaecheon Lee and Yunjaie Choi contributed equally to this work.     

Production of extracellular protease from halotolerant bacterium, Bacillus aquimaris strain VITP4 isolated from Kumta coast

A newly isolated halotolerant Bacillus sp. VITP4 was investigated for the production of extracellular protease. 16S rRNA gene analysis identified it as Bacillus aquimaris. Enzyme secretion corresponded with growth (G_t, 38 min) in the basal Zobell medium, reaching a maximum during stationary phase (630 U/ml, 48 h). Protease production was investigated in different salt concentrations (0–4 M). While growth was optimum in the basal medium, higher levels of protease activity were observed in 0.5 M salt medium (728 U/ml, 48 h) and 1 M salt medium (796 U/ml, 78 h) with 21% and 32% increase in production, respectively. Salt concentrations above 2.5 M did not support bacterial growth. The optimum pH and temperature for production were pH 7.5 and 37 °C, respectively. A combination of peptone and yeast extract yielded optimum protease secretion. Inorganic nitrogen sources proved to be less favourable. Production was reduced in the presence of readily available carbon sources owing to catabolic repression. Effect of various salts (1–6%) indicated favourable bacterial growth in these conditions for producing proteolytic molecules with increased activity. The study assumes significance in the ability of the halotolerant bacterium to survive in a wide range of salinity and yield optimum levels of extracellular protease.     

The economic production of anti-microbial factor from human promyelocytes in low serum containing medium under chemostat cultivation

It proves that a purifed Anti-Microbial Factor (AMF) from human promyelocytes has strong activity on Gram(–) and Gram(+) bacteria, showing 0.5 (g/ml) of Minimal Bacterical Concentration (MBC) on bothE. coli andS. aureus. For mass production of AMF, chemostat cultivation is recommended to accumulate cells out of the reactor since it is an intracellular protein and its system requires only 1% serum in the medium. Its production process proves to be closely growth-related. 1.7×10^–8 (g/viable cell/day) of maximum specific AMF production rate is estimated at 0.026 h^–1 of dilution rate, maintaining 6×10⁶ (viable cell/ml). Ca. 300 (mg/ml) of crude AMF can be obtained for 50 days of continuous cultivation under optimal conditions. The cell growth reaches relatively fast steady state.     

High activity xylanase production by Streptomyces olivaceoviridis E-86

The effects of different factors on xylanase production by Streptomyces olivaceoviridis E-86 were studied under shake flask conditions. The best initial pH value of growth medium for xylanase production was pH 6.0. Corn cob xylan and beef peptone were the best C source and N source, respectively. The enzyme activity was doubled by addition of 1.5% (v/v) Tween-80 in the medium. By the combination of the above variables, the highest xylanase activity obtained was 1653 U/ml which is the highest ever reported from Streptomyces sp.     

Optimal conditions for enhanced β-mannanase production by recombinant Aspergillus sojae

Optimization of the growth conditions for maximum β-mannanase production in shake flasks by using recombinant Aspergillus sojae ATCC11906 (AsT1) was carried out by Box–Behnken design of response surface methodology. The highest β-mannanase activity on the fourth day of cultivation at 30 °C was obtained as 363 U/ml in the optimized medium consisting of 7% sugar beet molasses, 0.43% NH₄NO₃, 0.1% K₂HPO₄ and 0.05% MgSO₄ (by weight per volume) at 207 rpm. On the sixth day of cultivation under the optimized conditions, the highest β-mannanase activity was achieved as 482 U/ml which is 1.4-fold of 352 U/ml activity found on glucose medium previously.     

Purification,characterization and application of acidic lipase from Pseudomonas gessardii using beef tallow as a substrate for fats and oil hydrolysis

Beef tallow, a slaughter house waste was used as a substrate for lipase production, employing Pseudomonas gessardii. The strain, P. gessardii was isolated from the beef tallow acclimatized soil. The crude lipase activity at 139 U/ml by volume was obtained at optimized conditions of pH 5.0 and temperature of 37 °C. After purification, a 7.59-fold purity of lipase with specific activity of 1120 U/mg protein and molecular mass of 92 kDa was obtained. The purified lipase showed maximum activity and stability at pH 5.0 and 30 °C. Ca²⁺ had a stimulatory effect on the lipase activity compared to the other metal ions studied. The relative activity was enhanced with the addition of Triton X-100 with lower hydrophilic–lipophilic balance (HLB) value as 13.0 and DMSO with the lowest partition coefficient (log P) value, as 1.378. The amino acid composition and the functional groups of lipase were confirmed by HPLC and FT-IR spectroscopy. The purified lipase had the highest hydrolytic activity towards slaughterhouse wastes and vegetable oils. This work provides a potential biocatalyst for the wide applications in oleochemical and biotechnological industries.     

麦芽糖诱导软化芽孢杆菌α-环糊精葡萄糖基转移酶在枯草杆菌中的表达

通过PCR扩增软化芽孢杆菌α-环糊精葡萄糖基转移酶基因,将基因片段克隆到大肠杆菌-枯草杆菌穿梭载体pGJ103中,转化枯草杆菌WB600得基因工程菌进行外源表达。在1.5%的麦芽糖初始发酵培养基上摇瓶培养,48 h后重组枯草杆菌产酶活性为6.1U/ml。通过单因素分析和响应面分析对重组枯草杆菌产CGT酶摇瓶发酵条件进行优化。分析得到培养基关键组分麦芽糖,玉米淀粉和酵母粉三者最佳浓度分别为:15.5g/L,13g/L和20g/L。在此条件下,摇瓶培养36h后α-CGT酶活性为17.6U/ml,5L罐分批发酵30h后酶活达到20U/ml (水解活性为1.4×10⁴ IU/ml)。     

Bioprocess development for the cultivation of human T-lymphocytes in a clinical scale

Adoptive transfer of large numbers of donor-derived T-lymphocytesmay offer a promising treatment of a variety of viral and malignant diseases. The key step in this approach is the ex vivo generation of sufficient quantities of these cells in a short time.We have investigated the influence of several important cultivation parameters on the proliferation of human T-lymphocytes to develop a large-scale fermentation process usingdifferent types of stirred bioreactors. Such systems offer manypotential advantages over the static culture systems commonlyused today.Peripheral blood mononuclear cells of healthy but CMV positive donors were stimulated with monoclonal antibodies (anti-CD3 and anti-CD28) and Interleukin-2. The influence of osmolality, Interleukin-2 concentration, pH, oxygen tension, feeding strategyand temperature on T-cell proliferation was investigated and theoptimised conditions were transferred to a novel stirred suspension bioreactor with an especially designed magnetic stirrbar to minimize the shear force (working volume 550 ml) and a standard stirred vessel (working volume 1000 ml).Preferable conditions for the cultivation of primary T-lymphocytes were an osmolality of 276–330 mOsmol kg^-1,an Interleukin-2 concentration of 100 U ml^-1, a pH rangeof 7.0 to 7.3, an oxygen tension of 5–50% and a temperature of 38.5 °C. After 238 h of cultivation 2.8 × 10⁹ cells in the stirred vesseland 1.5 × 10⁹ cells in the suspension bioreactor were obtained with a percentage of T-cells >94%. The specificity of the cells wasmaintained during cultivation as proven by IFN- secretionafter exposure to a hCMV protein.     

Statistical optimization of medium components for the production of xylanase byAspergillus niger KK2 in submerged cultivation

Medium composition was optimized for the production of xylanase byAspergillus niger KK2 using statistical experimental designs. Corn steep liquor (CSL) and industrial yeast extract (IYE) were the most important factors affecting xylanase activity. The medium that produced the optimum conditions for the production of xylanase contained 3% rice straw, 1% wheat bran, 6.3% CSL, 0.15% IYE, and 0.5% KH₂PO₄. After 4 days of cultivation under optimized conditions in a 2.5-L stirred tank reactor the activity and productivity of xylanase were 620 IU/mL and 6,458 IU/L.h, respectively. The highest xylanase activity obtained using the optimized medium was 80% greater than the activity obtained using basal medium. The xylanase activity predicted by a polynomial model was 670 IU/ml.     

Optimum culture conditions for the production of benzonitrilase by Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1

We sought the optimum conditions for the production of benzonitrilase by Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1. The use of isovaleronitrile or isobutyronitrile as an inducer greatly enhanced benzonitrilase formation. When Rhodococcus rhodochrous J1 was cultivated at 28°C for 96 h in a medium consisting of 0.1 ml of isovaleronitrile, 0.5 g of polypeptone, 0.3 g of malt extract, 0.3 g of yeast extract and 1 g of glycerol per 100 ml of tap water (pH 7.2), and isovaleronitrile was fed twice at the concentrations of 0.1% (v/v) and 0.2% (v/v) at 55 h and 77 h, respectively, during the course of cultivation, the enzyme activity in the culture broth reached approximately 3,100-times higher than the initially obtained level.     

Development of fermentation process for PLA-degrading enzyme production by a new thermophilic Actinomadura sp. T16-1

The fermentation process for a poly (L-lactide) (PLA)-degrading enzyme production by a newly isolate of thermophilic PLA-degrading Actinomadura sp. T16-1 was investigated. The strain produced 33.9 U/mL of enzyme activity after cultivation at 50°C under shaking of 150 rpm for 96 h in a medium consisting of (w/v) 0.05% PLA film, 0.2% gelatin, 0.4% (NH₄)₂SO₄, 0.4% K₂HPO₄, 0.2 % KH₂PO₄, and 0.02% MgSO₄ · 7H₂O. The optimal concentration of PLA film and gelatin obtained by response surface methodology (RSM) for the highest production of PLA-degrading enzyme was 0.035% (w/v) and 0.238% (w/v), respectively. Under these conditions, the model predicted 40.4 U/mL of PLA-degrading activity and the verification of the optimization showed 44.6 U/mL of PLA-degrading enzymatic activity in the flasks experiment. The maximum PLA-degrading activity reached 150 U/mL within 72 h cultivation in the 3-L airlift fermenter.