Fed-batch culture with a modified DO-stat method

To support a high growth rate of microorganism in fed-batch culture with high cell density, a modified DO-stat method was developed. In this method, an exponential substrate feed was coupled with the usual DO-stat method, i.e., a fixed amount of substrate per DO signal was exponentially fed to the culture based on the estimation of the substrate consumption rate and thereafter the feed was stopped in order to prevent the oversupply of substrate until an abrupt increase in the concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the broth appeared. After that, the feed was started again and this cyclic operation was repeated throughout the cultivation. This method was applied to the fed-batch cultivation of ethanol utilizing yeast, Candida brassicae. At high cell densities (> 10 g/l), this modified method was more effective than the usual one in keeping a higher growth rate.     

Dissolved-oxygen-stat fed-batch fermentation of 1,3-dihydroxyacetone from glycerol by Gluconobacter oxydans ZJB09112

This study investigated the effects of DO concentration on DHA fermentation and of DO-stat fed-batch fermentation using a pH control strategy, on 1,3-dihydroxyacetone (DHA) production. The results showed that DO-stat fed-batch fermentation with pH-shift control was the optimal bioprocess for DHA production. DO-stat fed-batch fermentation was carried out at 30% air saturation, and the culture pH was automatically maintained at pH 6.0 during the first 20 h and then shifted to pH 5.0 until the end of the fermentation. An optimal DHA concentration of 175.9 ± 6.7 g/L, with a production yield to glycerol of 0.87 ± 0.04 g/g, was obtained at 72 h of DO-stat fed-batch fermentation at 30°C in a 15 L fermenter.     

Optimum substrate feed rate in fed-batch culture with the DO-stat method

In a fed-batch culture employing the DO-stat method, a rapid increase of dissolved oxygen concentration due to a lack of substrate (the DO signal) is used as an indicator for substrate feeding. The amount of substrate to be fed in response to the appearance of the DO signal is a very important factor for obtaining an optimal fed-batch culture. To select the optimum amount of substrate to be fed at the DO signal, a calculative procedure based on the growth yield, and the relationship between the specific growth rate and substrate concentration is proposed. This procedure is demonstrated in fed-batch cultures of Protaminobacter ruber (a methanol-utilizing bacterium) and Candida brassicae (an ethanol-utilizing yeast). The optimum feed rates calculated with the procedure, 2.5 ml (methanol/l/signal) for P. ruber and 5 ml (ethanol/l/signal) for C. brassicae, both gave good agreement with the cultivation results.     

Growth and carotenoid production of Phaffia Rhodozyma in fed-batch cultures with different feeding methods

The growth and carotenoid production of Phaffia rhodozyma in fed-batch cultures with different feeding methods and grown at specific growth rates similar to the batch culture was compared. With constant feeding, exponential feeding, DO-stat and pH-stat fed-batch cultures of Phaffia rhodozyma, the highest biomass (17.4 g/l) and lowest carotenoid content (307 g/g cell) of Phaffia rhodozyma was from the DO-stat fed-batch culture. The lowest biomass (14.7 g/l) and highest carotenoid content (412 g/g cell) was from the exponential, fed-batch culture.     

Fed-batch sorbitol to sorbose fermentation by A. suboxydans

Batch kinetics for sorbitol to sorbose bioconversion was studied at 20% sorbitol concentration. The culture featured 90% conversion of sorbitol to sorbose in 20 hours. Increasing the initial substrate concentration in the bioreactor decreased the culture specific growth rate. At 40% initial sorbitol concentration no culture growth was observed. The batch kinetics and substrate inhibition studies were used to develop the Mathematical Model of the system. The model parameters were identified using the original batch kinetic data (S _o =20%). The developed mathematical model was adopted to fed-batch cultivation with the exponential nutrient feeding. The fed-batch model was simulated and implemented experimentally. No substrate inhibition was observed in the fed-batch mode and it provided an overall productivity of 12.6?g/l-h. The fed-batch model suitably described the experimentally observed results. The model is ready for further optimization studies.     

Efficient conversion of lactic acid to butanol with pH-stat continuous lactic acid and glucose feeding method by Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum

In order to achieve high butanol production by Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum N1-4, the effect of lactic acid on acetone–butanol–ethanol fermentation and several fed-batch cultures in which lactic acid is fed have been investigated. When a medium containing 20 g/l glucose was supplemented with 5 g/l of closely racemic lactic acid, both the concentration and yield of butanol increased; however, supplementation with more than 10 g/l lactic acid did not increase the butanol concentration. It was found that when fed a mixture of lactic acid and glucose, the final concentration of butanol produced by a fed-batch culture was greater than that produced by a batch culture. In addition, a pH-controlled fed-batch culture resulted in not only acceleration of lactic acid consumption but also a further increase in butanol production. Finally, we obtained 15.5 g/l butanol at a production rate of 1.76 g/l/h using a fed-batch culture with a pH-stat continuous lactic acid and glucose feeding method. To confirm whether lactic acid was converted to butanol by the N1-4 strain, we performed gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis of butanol produced by a batch culture during fermentation in a medium containing [1,2,3-¹³C₃] lactic acid as the initial substrate. The results of the GC-MS analysis confirmed the bioconversion of lactic acid to butanol.     

Production of a high concentration acetic acid by Acetobacter aceti using a repeated fed-batch culture with cell recycling

Summary The acetic acid concentration in a batch culture of Acetobacter aceti M23 increased up to 90 g/l by adding ethanol intermittently. Although the bacterial cells ceased growth at about 60 g acetic acid/l, non-viable cells still preserved ethanol oxidation activity. Cell recycling by filtration in a repeated fed-batch culture increased the overall acetic acid production rate 2.84-fold compared to that without cell recycling for the purpose of obtaining an acetic acid concentration of 80.8 g/l. Repeated fed-batch cultivation with cell recycle was effective for increasing the production rate of acetic acid and obtaining high amounts close to a lethal concentration (90 g/l).Offprint requests to: Kiyoshi Toda     

Biotransformation of 2-phenylethanol to phenylacetaldehyde in a two-phase fed-batch system

Phenylacetaldehyde (PA) can be produced by the oxidation of 2-phenylethanol (PE) through biotransformation. In order to prevent substrate and product inhibitions and the transformation of the PA to phenylacetic acid (PAA), utilization of a two-phase system is very attractive. Gluconobacter oxydans B-72 was used as the microorganism and iso-octane as the solvent. The effect of initial substrate concentration on the PA production was investigated in single- and two-phase systems. In the single-phase system, substrate inhibition occurred above 5 g/l, and in the two-phase system, above 7.5 g/l. Substrate inhibition kinetics were also studied in the two-phase system and kinetic constants were determined as r_max=0.64 g/l min, K_M=8.15 g/l, K_PA=2.5 g/l. Because it was observed that two-phase system is insufficient to remove the substrate inhibition effect, fed-batch operation was utilised in this study. For 7.5 g/l of PE, 1.65, 3.85, and 7.35 g/l of PA were obtained in the single-phase, two-phase, and two-phase three fed-batch systems, respectively. Effect of biotransformation time, initial substrate concentration, agitation speed, and fed-batch number on the PA production was investigated in a two-phase fed-batch system by the response surface methodology (RSM). The optimum values were found as 3 fed-batch number, 2.75 g/l initial substrate concentration, 150 rpm agitation speed, and 65 min of one batch biotransformation time. In order to verify these results, an experiment was performed at these optimum conditions and 7.10 g/l of PA concentration was obtained.     

Production of ethanol from molasses at 45 °C using Kluyveromyces marxianus IMB3 immobilized in calcium alginate gels and poly(vinyl alcohol) cryogel

The thermotolerant, ethanol-producing yeast strain Kluyveromyces marxianus IMB3 has been immobilized in calcium alginate gel and poly(vinyl alcohol) cryogel (PVAC) beads. The immobilized preparations were used as biocatalyst in fed-batch reactor systems for prolonged periods. The substrate utilized in each case consisted of sugar cane molasses diluted to yield a sugar load of 140?g/l. During the first cycle the maximum ethanol concentration produced by the alginate system was 57?g/l, representing 80% of the maximum theoretical yield. In the system employing the PVAC-immobilized biocatalyst, ethanol production increased to a maximum of 52–53?g/l, representing 73% of the maximum theoretical yield. In both cases, maximum ethanol concentration was achieved within a 72-hour period. When each system was operated on a fed-batch basis for a prolonged period of time the average ethanol concentrations produced in the alginate- and the PVAC-immobilized systems were 21 and 45?g/l, respectively. The results suggest that the PVAC-based immobilization system may provide a more practical alternative to alginate for the production of ethanol by K. marxianus IMB3 in continuous or semi-continuous fermentation systems.     

High production of 1,3-propanediol from glycerol by Clostridium butyricum VPI 3266 in a simply controlled fed-batch system

Summary A simple fed-batch system which controls substrate feeding by measuring the CO₂ produced during the fermentation, was developped. This Fed-batch approach allowed high production of 1,3-propanediol from glycerol by Clostridium butyricum by avoiding substrate inhibition phenomena. 65 g/l of 1,3-propanediol was produced with a productivity of 1.21 g/l.h and a yield of 0.56. The concentration of 1,3-propanediol obtained and the productivity were significantly higher than those reached in batch culture.     

Carotenoid production from hydrolyzed molasses by Dietzia natronolimnaea HS-1 using batch,fed-batch and continuous culture

The different cultivation strategies of batch, fed-batch and continuous culture for the synthesis of biomass and carotenoids by Dietzia natronolimnaea HS-1 from waste molasses and its hydrolysate were compared. The efficiency of three various pretreatments (enzymatic, acidic and acidic at high temperature) for the determination of the best hydrolysate was also studied by evaluating the conversion rate of sucrose. The analytical procedures initially showed that canthaxanthin (CTX) and enzymatic hydrolysis were the most abundant pigment biosynthesized and the most suitable process for the substrate production, respectively. An increase in reducing sugar concentration of the enzymatic hydrolysate molasses (EHM) from 25 to 50 g/l led to a drastic decrease in biomass formation and substrate utilization. EHM (25 g/l) was a better substrate for the cell growth and product formation than the waste molasses (25 g/l). The application of EHM instead of molasses enhanced the biomass production in fed-batch culture more than batch and continuous cultures. However, the continuous cultivation had the highest biomass (12.98 g/l), carotenoid (27.33 mg/l) and CTX (25.04 mg/l) yields with 25 g/l of EHM. The CTX isolated from D. natronolimnaea HS-1 may be used as a natural antioxidant for possible production of healthy-functional foods in the future.     

Production of pediocin SM-1 by Pediococcus pentosaceus Mees 1934 in fed-batch fermentation: Effects of sucrose concentration in a complex medium and process modeling

Production of pediocin SM-1 by Pediococcus pentosaceus Mees 1934 was investigated in semi-aerobic, pH-controlled, batch and fed-batch fermentations using a complex medium containing sucrose as the main source of carbon. The effects of sucrose concentration were studied in fed-batch fermentations in which a sucrose solution was added at stable feeding rates (5, 7, 9 and 10 g/l/h). The results showed that pediocin is produced as a product of the primary metabolism and its titer could be greatly improved by adjusting the sucrose feeding rate in fed-batch fermentation. The maximum titer of pediocin of 145 AU/ml was obtained in the fed-batch culture with 7 g/l/h feeding rate and that was 119% higher compared to the titer obtained in batch culture. Higher feeding rates (9 and 10 g/l/h) resulted in decreased pediocin yields while biomass levels appeared to be rather unaffected. The specific rate of pediocin formation was also sensitive to sucrose concentration levels. A mathematical model developed on the basis of well-known rate equations for batch and fed-batch cultures and growth associated production, described successfully cell growth, sucrose assimilation, lactate production and pediocin production in fed-batch culture.     

Astaxanthin production by Phaffia rhodozymaenhanced in fed-batch culture with glucose and ethanol feeding

Of various carbon sources, examined for the cultivation of Phaffia rhodozyma, ethanol enhanced the astaxanthin content but severely decreased growth. Therefore, high cell mass was obtained by glucose fed-batch culture with pH-stat, and the ethanol feeding was performed based on DO-stat. As a result of this two-stage fed-batch cultivation, 30 g dry cells per liter were obtained, and the astaxanthin content reached 0.72 mg/g, which was 2.2-fold higher than that without ethanol feeding.     

An industrial medium for improved production of carotenoids from a mutant strain of Phaffia rhodozyma

A medium based on less expensive nutrient sources, such as corn starch hydrolyzate (hydrol), corn steep liquor (CSL), urea and potassium phosphate was used for the growth of the yeast Phaffia rhodozyma 2A2N strain. A central composite experimental design has been employed to derive a statistical model on the effect of hydrol and CSL on carotenoid production. An initial concentration of sugars as glucose equivalent 73?g/l in hydrol and 43?g/l CSL were found optimal for the maximization of final carotenoid production in shake flask cultures. The carotenoid production was increased by adding urea and phosphate sources. Laboratory scale fermentation was performed with the optimized medium and total carotenoid production of 52.4?mg/l was obtained using constant fed-batch culture.     

Production of recombinant β-galactosidase in bioreactors by fed-batch culture using DO-stat and linear control

β-Galactosidase enzymes continue to play an important role in food and pharmaceutical industries. These enzymes hydrolyze lactose in its constituent monosaccharides, glucose and galactose. The industrial use of enzymes presents an increase in process costs reflecting in higher final product value. An alternative to enhance processes’ productivity and yield would be the use of recombinant enzymes and their large-scale fed-batch production. The overexpression of recombinant β-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces sp. was carried out in 2-L bioreactors using Escherichia coli strain BL21 (DE3) as host. Effect of induction time on recombinant enzyme expression was studied by adding 1?mM isopropyl thiogalactoside (IPTG) at 12?h, 18?h and 24?h of cultivation. Glucose feeding strategies were compared employing feedback-controlled DO-stat and ascendant linear pump feeding in bioreactor fed-batch cultivations. Linear feeding strategy with IPTG addition at 18?h of cultivation resulted in approximately 20?g/L and 17,745?U/L of biomass and β-galactosidase activity, respectively. On the other hand, although the feedback-controlled DO-stat feeding strategy induced at 12?h of cultivation led to lower final biomass of 18?g/L, it presented an approximately 2.5 increase in enzymatic activity, resulting in 42,367?U/L, and most importantly it led to the most prominent specific enzymatic activity of approximately 40?U/mg_protein. Comparing to previous results, these results suggest that the DO-stat feeding is a promising strategy for recombinant β-galactosidase enzyme production.     

Extended operation of a pressurized 75-L bioreactor for shLkn-1 production by Pichia pastoris using dissolved oxygen profile control

In this study, a dissolved oxygen (DO)-stat fed-batch process was conducted in a pressurized 75-L bioreactor, resulting in the production of the short version of human leukotactin-1 (shLkn-1) using Pichia pastoris as the host, with control of the DO-stat profile and an extension of the recombinant shLkn-1 production phase. By regulation of the exhaust-gas valve, we were able to maintain the vessel pressure at up to 120 kPa, in order to overcome DO limitations associated with the use of the DO-stat. The lowest DO value was adjusted by varying the feed pump speed, allowing us to control the DO-stat profile. This principle was successfully applied to both glycerol feeding during the growth phase and methanol feeding for the induction of shLkn-1. The extension of the methanol induction phase to a total of 192 h of culture time resulted in a shLkn-1 concentration of 2.5 g/L, and a total of 102 g of cumulative production. During this extended induction period, the C-terminal residue of shLkn-1 was truncated and this was confirmed by both reverse-phase HPLC and mass spectrometry.     

Fermentation characterization of an L-tryptophan producing Escherichia coli strain with inactivated phosphotransacetylase

Acetate is a primary inhibitory metabolite in Escherichia coli cultivation which is detrimental to bacterial growth and the formation of desired products. It can be derived from acetyl coenzyme A by the phosphotransacetylase (Pta)–acetate kinase (AckA) pathway. In this study, the fermentation characteristics of Pta mutant strain E. coli TRTHΔpta were compared with those of the control strain E. coli TRTH in a 30-L fermentor. The effects of glucose concentration and dissolved oxygen (DO) level were investigated, and the results suggest that DO and glucose concentration are vital influencing parameters for the production of L-tryptophan. Based on our experimental results, we then tested a DO-stat fed-batch fermentation strategy. When DO was controlled at about 20 % during L-tryptophan fermentation in the DO-stat fed-batch system, the pta mutant was able to maintain a higher growth rate at the exponential phase, and the final biomass and L-tryptophan production were increased to 55.3 g/L and 35.2 g/L, respectively. Concomitantly, as the concentration of acetate decreased to 0.7 g/L, the accumulation of pyruvate and lactate increased in the mutant strain as compared with the control strain. This characterization of the recombinant mutant strain provides useful information for the rational modification of metabolic fluxes to improve tryptophan production.     

Fed-batch cultivation of Pseudomonas cepacia with on-line control of the toxic substrate salicylate

Pseudomonas cepacia was cultivated on salicylate as sole carbon and energy source in a fed-batch culture. On-line measurement of salicylate concentration was carried out using a filtration system. Cell-free permeate was passed through a flow-through spectrophotometer. Measurements were carried out at 325 nm. A Proportional-Integral controller was used for regulating the feed rate around a basic dosage scheme to maintain a constant salicylate concentration of 0.2 g/l in the broth. The cell mass concentration increased from less than 1 g dry weight (dw)/l to 12 g dw/l in less than 6 h, and the yield coefficient was 0.4 g dw/g salicylate. The intracellular enzymatic activity of salicylate hydroxylase was virtually unchanged during the fed-batch cultivation. Correspondence to: A. Tocaj     

Improvement of cloned alpha-amylase gene expression in fed-batch culture of recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae by regulating both glucose and ethanol concentrations using a fuzzy controller

The effect of ethanol concentration on cloned gene expression in recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain 20B-12 containing one of two plasmids, pNA3 and pNA7, was investigated in batch cultures. Plasmids pNA3 and pNA7 contain the alpha-amylase gene under the control of the SUC2 or PGK promoter, respectively. When the ethanol concentration was controlled at 2 to 5 g/L, the gene expressions were two times higher than those at 20 g/L ethanol. The increase the gene expression by maintaining both the ethanol and glucose concentrations at low levels, a fuzzy ontroller was developed. The concentrations of glucose and ethanol were controlled simultaneously at 0.15 and 2 g/L, respectively, in the production phase using the fuzzy controller in fed-batch culture. The synthesis of alpha-amylase was induced by the low glucose concentration and maintained at a high level of activity by regulating the ethanol concentration at 2 g/L. The secretory alpha-amylase was induced by the low glucose concentration and maintained at a high level of activity by regulating the ethanol concentration at 2 g/L. The secretory alpha-amylase activities of cells harboring plasmids pNA3 and pNA7 in fed-batch culture were 175 and 395 U/mL, and their maximal specific activities 7.7 and 12.4 U/mg dry cells, respectively. These values are two to three times higher in activity and three to four times higher in specific activity than those obtained when glucose only was controlled. (c) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Fed-batch culture of<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Bacillus thuringiensis</Emphasis> based on motile intensity

The operation of a fed-batch culture is more complicated than that of batch or continuous culture. Thus, an appropriate feeding strategy for fed-batch cultures should be carefully designed. In this study, a simple feeding strategy for fed-batch culture of Bacillus thuringiensis based on motile intensity is described. The feeding strategy consisted of two steps: (1) initiating feeding at the peak of motile intensity; (2) terminating feeding at low motile intensity (or non-motility) of the cells. In addition, the motile intensity of B. thuringiensis was used to determine the optimum environmental conditions (pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen) and optimum medium composition. Using this fed-batch strategy, the production of thuringiensin increased 34% compared with batch culture using the same environmental conditions and medium composition. The proposed strategy for fed-batch culture helps to avoid overfeeding of substrate and facilitates on-line control. A comparison of several alternative strategies for fed-batch culture demonstrated that strategies such as glucose-stat and DO-stat result in a lower productivity than that obtained using the motility intensity method.