Online measurement of viscosity for biological systems in stirred tank bioreactors.

One of the most critical parameters in chemical and biochemical processes is the viscosity of the medium. Its impact on mixing, as well as on mass and energy transfer is substantial. An increase of viscosity with reaction time can be caused by the formation of biopolymers like xanthan or by filamentous growth of microorganisms. In either case the properties of fermentation broth are changing and frequently non-Newtonian behavior are observed, resulting in major challenges for the measurement and control of mixing and mass transfer. This study demonstrates a method for the online determination of the viscosity inside a stirred tank reactor. The presented method is based on online measurement of heat transfer capacity from the bulk medium to the jacket of the reactor. To prove the feasibility of the method, fermentations with the xanthan producing bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris B100 as model system were performed. Excellent correlation between offline measured apparent viscosity and online determined heat transfer capacity were found. The developed tool should be applicable to any other process with formation of biopolymers and filamentous growth. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 990-997. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effect of growth rate on plasmid DNA production and metabolic performance of engineered Escherichia coli strains.

Two engineered Escherichia coli strains, designated VH33 and VH34, were compared to their parent strain W3110 in chemostat mode during plasmid DNA (pDNA) production. In strain VH33 the glucose uptake system was modified with the aim of reducing overflow metabolism. The strain VH34 has an additional deletion of the pyruvate kinase A gene (pykA) to increase pDNA formation. pDNA formation rates as well as kinetic and stoichiometric parameters were investigated in dependence of the growth rate within a range from 0.02 to 0.25 h(-1). Differences between strains were found in terms of the biomass yields on nitrogen and oxygen, as well as on the cell maintenance coefficients. The deletion of pykA led to a significantly increased pDNA yield and productivity. At an optimal growth rate of 0.20 h(-1) it was nearly 60% higher than that of W3110 and VH33. Metabolic fluxes calculated by metabolite balance analysis showed differences mainly in reactions catalyzed by pyruvate kinase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase. The obtained data are useful for the design of cultivation schemes for pDNA production by E. coli.

Non-invasive online detection of microbial lysine formation in stirred tank bioreactors by using calorespirometry.

Non-invasive methods for online monitoring of biotechnological processes without compromising the integrity of the reactor system are very important to generate continuous data. Even though calorimetry has been used in conventional biochemical analysis for decades, it has not yet been specifically applied for online detection of product formation at technical scale. Thus, this article demonstrates a calorespirometric method for online detection of microbial lysine formation in stirred tank bioreactors. The respective heat generation of two bacterial strains, Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 (wild-type) and C. glutamicum DM1730 (lysine producer), was compared with the O2 -consumption in order to determine whether lysine was formed. As validation of the proposed calorespirometric method, the online results agreed well with the offline measured data. This study has proven that calorespirometry is a viable non-invasive technique to detect product formation at any time point.

Plasmid DNA production for therapeutic applications.

Plasmid DNA (pDNA) is the base for promising DNA vaccines and gene therapies against many infectious, acquired, and genetic diseases, including HIV-AIDS, Ebola, Malaria, and different types of cancer, enteric pathogens, and influenza. Compared to conventional vaccines, DNA vaccines have many advantages such as high stability, not being infectious, focusing the immune response to only those antigens desired for immunization and long-term persistence of the vaccine protection. Especially in developing countries, where conventional effective vaccines are often unavailable or too expensive, there is a need for both new and improved vaccines. Therefore the demand of pDNA is expected to rise significantly in the near future. Since the injection of pDNA usually only leads to a weak immune response, several milligrams of DNA vaccine are necessary for immunization protection. Hence, there is a special interest to raise the product yield in order to reduce manufacturing costs. In this chapter, the different stages of plasmid DNA production are reviewed, from the vector design to downstream operation options. In particular, recent advances on cell engineering for improving plasmid DNA production are discussed.

Formation of ethyl acetate by Kluyveromyces marxianus on whey: studies of the ester stripping.

Kluyveromyces marxianus is capable of converting lactose into ethyl acetate offering a chance for an economical reuse of whey. The microbial formation of ethyl acetate as a bulk product calls for an aerobic process and, thus, the highly volatile ethyl acetate is discharged from the aerated bioreactor. This stripping process was modeled and investigated experimentally. The stripping rate was proportional to the gas flow and nearly independent of the stirring rate since the stripping was governed by the absorption capacity of the exhaust gas rather than the phase transfer. Cooling the exhaust gas did not noticeably influence the stripping. One batch experiment is presented in detail to demonstrate the formation of ethyl acetate by K. maxianus DSM 5422 on whey. Further batch experiments showed that a substantial formation of ethyl acetate only occurred when the yeast growth was limited by a lack of trace elements. The highest product yield observed was 0.25 g ethyl acetate per g lactose which is nearly 50% of the theoretical maximum.

Predicting the precipitation of poorly soluble weak bases upon entry in the small intestine.

Solubility and dissolution relationships in the gastrointestinal tract can be critical for the oral bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs. In the case of poorly soluble weak bases, the possibility of drug precipitation upon entry into the small intestine may also affect the amount of drug available for uptake through the intestinal mucosa. To simulate the transfer out of the stomach into the intestine, a transfer model was devised, in which a solution of the drug in simulated gastric fluid is continuously pumped into a simulated intestinal fluid, and drug precipitation in the acceptor medium is examined via concentration-time measurements. The in-vitro precipitation of three poorly soluble weakly basic drugs, dipyridamole, BIBU 104 XX and BIMT 17 BS, was investigated. For all three, extensive supersaturation was achieved in the acceptor medium. Under simulated fasted-state conditions, precipitation occurred for all three compounds whereas under simulated fed-state conditions, the higher concentrations of bile components and the lower pH value in the acceptor medium inhibited precipitation at concentrations corresponding to usual doses in all cases. Comparison with pharmacokinetic data indicated that a combination of transfer model data with solubility and dissolution profiles should lead to better predictions of in-vivo behaviour of poorly soluble weak bases.