Enhanced production of ε-poly-L-lysine by immobilized Streptomyces ahygroscopicus through repeated-batch or fed-batch fermentation with in situ product removal.

ε-Poly-L-lysine (ε-PL) is a naturally-occurring L-lysine homopolymer having a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and used widely as a food preservative. In the present study, the combined use of immobilization and in situ product removal (ISPR) was evaluated for the production of ε-PL by Streptomyces ahygroscopicus GIM8. Results showed that ε-PL production in the flask cultures decreased from 0.84 to 0.38-0.56 g/L upon immobilization on loofah sponge with different amounts (0.5-3 g in 50 mL medium in a flask). By applying continuous ISPR to the immobilized flask cultures, ε-PL production as high as 3.51 g/L was obtained compared to 0.51 g/L of the control. A satisfactory titer of 1.84 g/L ε-PL could also be achieved with intermittent ISRP (three cycles of ISPR operation during cultivation). Further investigation showed that low levels of ε-PL retained in the broth appeared to favor its biosynthesis. In the repeated-batch fermentation in a 5 L immobilized bioreactor, with continuous ISPR, the final average ε-PL concentration and productivity were 3.35 g/L and 0.797 g/L/day, respectively, and 3.18 g/L and 0.756 g/L/day for the alternative (intermittent ISPR), in comparison to 1.16 g/L and 0.277 g/L/day with no ISPR usage. In the fed-batch fermentation with immobilized cells, the combined use of intermittent ISPR and extra nutrient feeding increased ε-PL concentration and productivity up to 24.57 g/L and 9.34 g/L/day. The fermentation processes developed could serve as an effective approach for ε-PL production and, moreover, the combination could greatly simplify downstream processing for ε-PL separation and purification.

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