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Salt-tolerant aromatic yeast is an important microorganism arising from the solid state fermentation of soy sauce. The fermentation kinetics of volatile esters by Candida etchellsii was studied in a batch system. The data obtained from the fermentation were used for determining the kinetic parameters of the model. Batch experimental results at four NaCl levels (180, 200, 220, and 240 g/L) were used to formulate the parameter estimation model. The kinetic parameters of the model were optimized by specifically designed Runge-Kutta Genetic Algorithms (GA). The resulting mathematical model for volatile ester production, cell growth and glucose consumption simulates the experimental data well. The resulting new model was capable of explaining the behavior of volatile ester fermentation. The optimized parameters (µo, Xmax, Ki, α, β, YX/S, m, and YP/S) were characterized by a correlation of functions assuming salinity dependence. The kinetic models optimized by GA describe the batch fermentation process adequately, as demonstrated by our experimental results.

A large amount of adenosine triphosphate with high energy phosphate bonds is required for uridine triphosphate regeneration during curdlan biosynthesis by Agrobacterium sp. ATCC 31749. To supply high energy for curdlan synthesis, three low-polyphosphates (Na4P2O7, Na5P3O10, and (NaPO3)6) with higher energy phosphate bonds were employed to substitute for KH2PO4-K2HPO4 in fermentation medium. Two genes encoding the polyphosphate metabolizing enzymes, polyphosphate kinase and exopolyphosphatase, were amplified and showed 95% homology to those in Agrobacterium sp. C58 by sequence analysis. The curdlan yields were enhanced by 23 and 134% when phosphate concentrations 0.024 mol/L of Na5P3O10 and 0.048 mol/L of (NaPO3)6 respectively, were added in the medium. The maximum curdlan yield of 30 ± 1.02 g/L was obtained with the addition of 0.048 mol/L of (NaPO3)6 with 5 g/L CaCO3 in the medium. When CaCO3 was removed from the culture and the three lowpolyphosphates were added, the pH and biomass yield dropped remarkably and little or no curdlan was produced. The culture containing 0.048 mol/L of (NaPO3)6 was mixed with KH2PO4-K2HPO4 and CaCO3 in the medium, but showed no effect on curdlan production. However, curdlan yield was improved by 49 ∼ 60% when CaCO3 was removed from the medium and KH2PO4-K2HPO4 acted as a buffer. It appears that the positive effect of (NaPO3)6 on curdlan production required the buffering capacity of CaCO3 and the absence of KH2PO4-K2HPO4 competing as a phosphate supplier.

Polysialic acid (PSA) is a capsular polysaccharide obtained from aerobic fermentation with Escherichia coli. To enhance PSA production and eliminate the influence of phosphate on the PSA purification process, a lower level of initial phosphate was adopted with pH control. The resulting PSA yield reached 4.1 g/L in fed-batch fermentation with 2.5 g/L K2HPO4 and E. coli strain CCTCC M208088. In addition, an ammonia water (NH4OH) feeding strategy to control the pH at 6.4 was developed resulting in PSA production that reached as high as 5.2 g/L. NMR spectra confirmed the purified biopolymer as a α-2,8 linked PSA, identical to the published NMR spectra, with a molecular weight in the range of 16 ∼ 50 kDa.

Tryptone has multiple and complex effects on cell physiology and process performance in pulse fed-batch cultivation of recombinant Escherichia coli. By applying feedback control of dissolved oxygen signal responding to pulse in the feed rate, the production of acetate was avoided and the optimization of production of recombinant human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) was successfully achieved. With the addition of an optimum amount of tryptone along with glucose in the pulse fedbatch cultivation of E. coli, the ability of the cell to divide and the stability of the plasmid within the bacteria were improved. Consequently, segregation of the cells into a viable but non-culturable physiological state was alleviated. Addition of tryptone also enhanced cell respiration before and after hEGF expression and thus further benefited the production of recombinant hEGF. Excessive addition of tryptone resulted in low sensitivity of the oscillation of dissolved oxygen signal and poor operability of pulse fed-batch cultivation as this led to an accumulation of acetate, which weakened the dissolved oxygen signal responses. Consequently, the production of recombinant protein was considerably reduced. By combining the process performance and the positive effect of complex media pulse addition on bacterial metabolism, the optimal production conditions of hEGF were successfully determined. A high cell density of 91 g/L dry cell weight was obtained under these optimal production conditions. Furthermore, a high level of 0.24 g/L hEGF was attained leading to a 32.6% increase in product yield as compared to the controls.