Large scale production of chromatophores from Rhodospirillum rubrum by light-fed-batch cultivation

Summary With the purpose of large scale production of chromatophores, the photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodospirillum rubrum was cultivated in a 50 l illuminated fermenter. The influence of light intensity on the production of cell mass and the production of intracellular membrane, from which the chromatophores can be prepared, were studied. A high constant specific rate of intracellular membrane production could be obtained by successively increasing the light intensity i.e., by light fed batch cultivation.