High-productivity fermentation process for cultivating industrial microorganisms

Abstract

High-productivity continuous fermentation processes have been developed for the production of important industrial microorganisms in specially designed fermentors.Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia pastoris, Kluyveromyces fragilis, andCandida utilis yeasts have been grown in bench-scale fermentors at cell densities of over 120 g/l, whileEscherichia coli, Bacillus megaterium, Methylomonas sp. andPseudomonas putida bacteria have been cultivated to cell densities of more than 110 g/l. Productivities (g cells per 1 per h) greater than 25 have been achieved in both bench-scale and 1500-liter fermentors with yeasts, and values as high as 55 have been achieved with bacteria in the bench-scale fermentor. The microorganisms were grown on defined media using ammonia for pH control and as nitrogen source. The fermentor, capable of high oxygen and heat transfer rates, was operated at constant volume with continuous feed and product discharge. The high-productivity process reduces fermentor size, media sterilization requirements, and may under some circumstances eliminate waste and recycle streams. It can also be applied to a variety of biological products.