Monitoring of protein product formation during fermentation with fast protein liquid chromatography

A method is described using fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) for the monitoring of protein formation during fermentation. The procedure consists of centrifugation to recover the cells, sonication of the cells, centrifugation to remove cell debris, and analysis of supernatant on a column of Mono Q (a strong anion exchanger). Analysis of peak areas provides quantitative determination of product concentration. Maintenance and life of the Mono Q column is discussed. We find that FPLC is a convenient method for measuring products in cell homogenates because it gives rapid, highly resolved separations.