Open-loop control of specific growth rate in fed-batch cultures of recombinant E.coli

Summary A computer-based algorithm was used for the open-loop control of specific growth rate in fed-batch cultures of recombinant E.coli.. The control of nutrient feed rate to an exponential trajectory resulted in growth of the culture at a constant specific growth rate. Stable specific growth rates between 0.08 and 0.4 h^–1 were achieved.     

Effect of incorrectly estimated parameters on the control of specific growth rate inE. coli fed-batch fermentation

An exponential feeding strategy has been frequently used in fed-batch fermentation of recombinantE. coli. In this feeding scheme, growth yield and initial cell concentration, which can be erroneously determined, are needed to calculate the feed rate for controlling specific growth rate at the set point. The effect of the incorrect growth yield and initial cell concentration on the control of the specific growth rate was theoretically analyzed. Insignificance of the correctness of those parameters for the control of the specific growth rate was shown theoretically and experimentally.     

Combining yield coefficients and exit-gas analysis for monitoring of the baker's yeast fed-batch fermentation

Baker's yeast is one of the micro-organisms that is studied most in literature. Therefore, a lot of knowledge on the biochemical pathways and corresponding yield coefficients is available. This knowledge is combined with measurements of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the exit-gas to determine the coefficients appearing in the stoichiometric equations. In this manner, two measurements are sufficient to yield on-line estimates for biomass, glucose, ethanol and the specific growth rate, and information about the (ill-defined) nitrogen source NH_q. This is not possible if the yield coefficients are not included in the estimation procedure. A sensitivity analysis illustrates that this estimation scheme is rather insensitive to uncertainties on the yield coefficients.     

Morphology of bakers' yeast and dissolved oxygen saturation during fed-batch growth

By complementary use of freeze-etching and scanning electron microscopy techniques, the morphology of cytoplasmic membrane and mitochondria of bakers' yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) was shown to be sensitive to momentary lack of dissolved oxygen in fed-batch growth medium. Cells grown under constant excess oxygenation had more invaginations on their cytoplasmic membranes and showed larger mitochondria as assessed from the dimensions of their giant mitochondria.     

Temperature gradient-based high-cell density fed-batch fermentation for the production of pyruvate oxidase by recombinant E. coli

Pyruvate oxidase (PyOD) is a very powerful enzyme for clinical diagnostic applications and environmental monitoring. Influences of temperature on cell growth, plasmid stability, and PyOD expression during the PyOD fermentation process by recombinant Escherichia coli were investigated. Based on the influences of temperature on the physiological metabolism, a novel high-cell density fed-batch cultivation with gradient temperature decrease strategy for effective PyOD production was achieved, under which the biomass (OD₆₀₀) of recombinant E. coli could reach to 71 and the highest PyOD activity in broth could reach to 3,307 U/L in 26?hr fermentation.     

Process of cellular division in Escherichia coli growth pattern of E. coli murein

The growth pattern of the murein-sacculus which determines the shape of the Escherichia coli cell was studied by the use of high-resolution autoradiography with the electron microscope. The murein was pulse labelled with ³H-labelled diaminopimelic acid as a specific murein precursor and sacculi were prepared immediately. The radioactivity of the nascent murein appeared on the auto- radiographs at a well-defined growth zone in the central area of the sacculus. This was true regardless of the size of the cells. Pulse chase experimenta show rapid mixing of labelled murein with pre-existing murein and its even distribution over the whole surface of the sacculus.     

Effect of yeast extract on Escherichia coli growth and acetic acid production

Fed batch cultures were performed to investigate the effect of yeast extract concentration on the kinetics of growth and acetic acid production of recombinant Escherichia coli BL21 in a synthetic medium. Three runs were performed with 40g/l total glucose concentration. The yeast extract/glucose ratio (YE/G; w/w), was 0.1, 0.05 and 0.025 in the feed. These decreasing YE/G values did not affect growth kinetics, but reduced the final cell concentration by about 10%, and also reduced the cell yield. Experiments with 60g/l total glucose concentration, one with a YE/G of 0.025 in the feed and the other without yeast extract, showed final acetic acid concentrations of 5.1 and 0.5g/l respectively, without any difference in cellular concentration. Although there was no significant influence on growth kinetics and final cellular concentration, the cell fermentative capacity was enhanced by yeast extract. The feed medium without yeast extract was the best condition for control purposes in high cell density cultures and for recombinant gene expression.     

Effects of betaine supplementation on l-threonine fed-batch fermentation by Escherichia coli

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering - Betaine can act as a stress protectant, methyl donor, or enzyme stabilizer in vitro for the biosynthesis of structurally complex compounds. The performances...     

Optimal production of glutathione by controlling the specific growth rate of yeast in fed-batch culture

The optimal of the specific growth rate was obtained with simple mathematical model in a yeast fed-batch cultures. The model was based on the mass balance around the fed-batch system and the relationship between the specific growth rate, mu, and the specific production rate of glutathione, rho(G). The optimal profile of mu was calculated as a bang-bang type, That is mu, should start from the maximum value, mu(max) and should be kept at mu(max); then mu should be switched to mu(c), which gives a maximum value of rho(G). It was proven from the maximum principle that switching was needed only once, with the switching time from mu(max) to mu(c) depending on the final required glutathione content. Finally, this ideal profile of mu for the maximum production of glutathione was realized by manipulating the substrates feed rate in the fed-batch culture. Using the extended Kalman filter and a programmed-controller/feedback-compensator (PF) system, mu could be controlled at the optimal profile obtained. As a result, the maximum production of glutathione was accomplished fairly successfully. However, further improvement in the controller performance for mu is desired. The control strategy employed here can be applied to other batch reaction processes.     

Production of human leukocyte interferon inEscherichia coli by control of growth rate in fed-batch fermentation

Summary AnE. coli harboring a vector containing double promoters, a signal sequence, and interferon gene was used. By fitting the feed rate of growth-limiting nutrients to the precalculated demand of the microorganism on the basis of a specific growth rate of 0.1 h^–1, fed-batch fermentations were performed. A cell density of 26 g/L was achieved after 46 hrs cultivation at 30°C. The culture was induced by IPTG and produced 1x10⁹ IU/L of human leukocyte interferon.     

Data-based dynamic compartment model: Modeling of E. coli fed-batch fermentation in a 600 m3 bubble column

Mathematical modeling is a powerful and inexpensive approach to provide a quantitative basis for improvements that minimize the negative effects of bioreactor heterogeneity. For a model to accurately represent a heterogeneous system, a flow model that describes how mass is channeled between different zones of the bioreactor volume is necessary. In this study, a previously developed compartment model approach based on data from flow-following sensor devices was further developed to account for dynamic changes in volume and flow rates and thus enabling simulation of the widely used fed-batch process. The application of the dynamic compartment model was demonstrated in a study of an industrial fermentation process in a 600 m³ bubble column bioreactor. The flow model was used to evaluate the mixing performance by means of tracer simulations and was coupled with reaction kinetics to simulate concentration gradients in the process. The simulations showed that despite the presence of long mixing times and significant substrate gradients early in the process, improving the heterogeneity did not lead to overall improvements in the process. Improvements could, however, be achieved by modifying the dextrose feeding profile.     

From laboratory to pilot plant E. coli fed-batch cultures: optimizing the cellular environment for protein maximization

For recombinant protein production in E. coli fed-batch cultures, post-induction conditions have great influence in the quantity and quality of the product. The present paper covers the effect of different factors affecting the cellular environment in recombinant aldolase (rhamnulose-1-phosphate aldolase, RhuA) production. An operational mode employing an exponential addition profile for constant specific growth rate has been analyzed, in order to understand and define possible modifications with influence on post-induction cellular behavior. A constant addition profile has been demonstrated to render higher specific aldolase production than the exponential addition profile, probably due to a more constant environment for the cells. On the other hand, amino acid (leucine) supplementation has proven to increase protein quality in terms of activity units (U) per unit mass of RhuA (U mg^?1 RhuA), alleviating metabolic overload. Based on the above, a production process was set up and scaled up to pilot plant. Resulting production was double that of a standard laboratory operation, 45,000 U L^?1, and almost all the protein retained the 6xHis-tag with the highest quality, 11.3 U mg^?1 RhuA.     

Calorimetric control of the specific growth rate during fed-batch cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The specific growth rate of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain with glucose as limiting C-source was estimated from the measured heat flow produced by the cells. For the cultivation a standard 30 l laboratory bioreactor was used, which was extended in such a way that heat balancing is possible. The feed rate was adjusted by a feedforward/feedback controller such that the specific growth rate was kept on the desired set-point value. On the basis of experimental investigations it was demonstrated that the specific growth rate can be controlled at a given set point value below the critical value to prevent the production of growth-inhibitory ethanol due to the Crabtree effect. With this control strategy high biomass concentrations of more than 110 g l(-1) can be obtained.     

Nitrogen availability of grape juice limits killer yeast growth and fermentation activity during mixed-culture fermentation with sensitive commercial yeast strains.

The competition between selected or commercial killer strains of type K2 and sensitive commercial strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was studied under various conditions in sterile grape juice fermentations. The focus of this study was the effect of yeast inoculation levels and the role of assimilable nitrogen nutrition on killer activity. A study of the consumption of free amino nitrogen (FAN) by pure and mixed cultures of killer and sensitive cells showed no differences between the profiles of nitrogen assimilation in all cases, and FAN was practically depleted in the first 2 days of fermentation. The effect of the addition of assimilable nitrogen and the size of inoculum was examined in mixed killer and sensitive strain competitions. Stuck and sluggish wine fermentations were observed to depend on nitrogen availability when the ratio of killer to sensitive cells was low (1:10 to 1:100). A relationship between the initial assimilable nitrogen content of must and the proportion of killer cells during fermentation was shown. An indirect relationship was found between inoculum size and the percentage of killer cells: a smaller inoculum resulted in a higher proportion of killer cells in grape juice fermentations. In all cases, wines obtained with pure-culture fermentations were preferred to mixed-culture fermentations by sensory analysis. The reasons why killer cells do not finish fermentation under competitive conditions with sensitive cells are discussed.     

High yield expression of recombinant pro-resilin: lactose-induced fermentation in E. coli and facile purification

Resilin is an elastic protein with outstanding material properties: high resilience and a very high fatigue lifetime. We are interested in the production of resilin-like proteins which can be photo-chemically cross-linked to form rubbery biomaterials to be used in a variety of industrial and medicinal applications. A method has been developed for producing soluble recombinant proteins in small scale fermentation equipment using glycerol batch for initial growth and primary induction by IPTG at carbon source depletion, followed by new growth in lactose-induced culture. Recombinant rec1-resilin has been over-expressed in the host strain Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)pLysS at a level of up to 300 mg/l, a greater than 20-fold increase in volumetric productivity, relative to that obtained from conventional IPTG induction in LB medium. The primary induction step before lactose induction in fresh medium resulted in a 2.5- to 3-fold increase of both volumetric productivity and cell specific yield compared to that without primary induction under the same conditions. This method is amenable and suitable for large scale production of soluble resilin-like proteins at a low operating cost. In addition, a simple 'salt precipitation and heat purification' method allowed rapid and efficient downstream processing of a large quantity of soluble recombinant resilin-like proteins. These methods will enable investigation of the structural and functional properties of resilin-like proteins, and the development of highly resilient biomaterials.     

Reduction of N-terminal methionylation while increasing titer by lowering metabolic and protein production rates in E. coli auto-induced fed-batch fermentation

A standard fed-batch fermentation process using 1 mM isopropyl-β-D: -thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) induction at 37 °C in complex batch and feed media had been developed for manufacturing of a therapeutic protein (TP) expressed in inclusion bodies (IBs) by E. coli BL21 (DE3) driven by T7 promoter. Six unauthentic TP N-terminal variants were identified, of which methionylated TP (Met-TP) ratio was predominant. We hypothesized that lowering metabolic and protein production rates would reduce the Met-TP ratio while improving TP titer. The standard process was surprisingly auto-induced without added IPTG due to galactose in the complex media. Without changing either the clone or the batch medium, a new process was developed using lower feed rates and auto-induction at 29 °C after glucose depletion while increasing induction duration. In comparison to the standard process, the new process reduced the unauthentic Met-TP ratio from 23.6 to 9.6 %, increased the TP titer by 85 %, and the specific production yield from 210 to 330 mg TP per gram of dry cell weight. Furthermore, the TP recovery yield in the purified IBs was improved by ~20 %. Adding together, ~105 % more TP recovered in the purified IBs from per liter of fermentation broth for the new process than the standard process. The basic principles of lowering metabolic and production rates should be applicable to other recombinant protein production in IBs by fed-batch fermentations.     

Spruce sugars and poultry hydrolysate as growth medium in repeated fed-batch fermentation processes for production of yeast biomass

Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering - The production of microbial protein in the form of yeast grown on lignocellulosic sugars and nitrogen-rich industrial residues is an attractive approach for...