Computational minimization of the specific energy demand of large-scale aerobic fermentation processes based on small-scale data

Fueling the protein transition: Can waste-derived ethanol enable efficient and high-quality microbial protein production?

Meeting the protein needs of a growing population will require significant resources. In this context, microbial protein (MP) offers a nutritious and versatile protein source from recovered resources. This meta-analysis of over 100 studies examines the efficiency and nutritional quality of MP production using ethanol. Ethanol, a feedstock derived from CO2 and biological waste, is used by various microorganisms, and has an established role in the food sector. Results show that ethanol-based MP production is technically feasible for food applications, reaching biomass concentrations of 14-230 g/L and productivities of 11-13 g/L/h. The protein content of MP correlates with productivity, and the nutritional quality of ethanol-grown MP matches common sources like pork and tofu. Lastly, operational choices affect the techno-economic feasibility of using waste-derived ethanol and other recovered resources. This meta-analysis highlights the potential of ethanol-grown MP, though further research is needed to close existing knowledge gaps.

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Chemical and Biocatalytic 2'3'-Cyclic GMP-AMP Synthesis

Life cycle assessments (LCAs) can provide insights into the environmental impact of production processes. In this study, a comparative LCA was performed for the synthesis of 2'3'-cyclic GMP-AMP (2'3'-cGAMP) in an early development stage. The cyclic dinucleotide (CDN) is of interest for pharmaceutical applications such as cancer immunotherapy. CDNs can be synthesized either by enzymes or chemical catalysis. It is not known which of the routes is more sustainable as both routes have their advantages and disadvantages, such as a poor yield for the chemical synthesis and low titers for the biocatalytic synthesis. The synthesis routes were compared for the production of 200 g 2'3'-cGAMP based on laboratory data to assess the environmental impacts. The biocatalytic synthesis turned out to be superior to the chemical synthesis in all considered categories by at least one magnitude, for example, a global warming potential of 3055.6 kg CO₂ equiv. for the enzymatic route and 56454.0 kg CO₂ equiv. for the chemical synthesis, which is 18 times higher. This study demonstrates the value of assessment at an early development stage, when the choice between different routes is still possible.

The potential of amoeba-based processes for natural product syntheses

The identification of novel platform organisms for the production and discovery of small molecules is of high interest for the pharmaceutical industry. In particular, the structural complexity of most natural products with therapeutic potential restricts an industrial production since chemical syntheses often require complex multistep routes. The amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum can be easily cultivated in bioreactors due to its planktonic growth behavior and contains numerous polyketide and terpene synthase genes with only a few compounds being already elucidated. Hence, the amoeba both bears a wealth of hidden natural products and allows for the development of new bioprocesses for existing pharmaceuticals. In this mini review, we present D. discoideum as a novel platform for the production of complex secondary metabolites and discuss its suitability for industrial processes. We also provide initial insights into future bioprocesses, both involving bacterial coculture setups and for the production of plant-based pharmaceuticals.

Towards new carbon-neutral food systems: Combining carbon capture and utilization with microbial protein production

Alternative protein sources such as microbial protein (MP) are currently considered to alleviate the burden that food production exerts on the environment. Even though MP production is highly efficient in land and nutrient utilization, their carbon footprint should be improved. Here we propose the use of CCU as a driver for heterotrophic MP production. By comparing different MP production routes starting from liquid substrates derived from CO2 (i.e., formate, acetate, methanol, and ethanol) and their respective metabolic pathways, the potential of this concept as a carbon-neutral food or feed production process was estimated. Acetate and ethanol appear to be the most beneficial substrates for the integrated CCU-to-MP process in terms of electricity demand (acetate: 25 - 54 kWh/kgproduct, ethanol: 28 - 56 kWh/kgproduct). Moreover, recycling CO2 enables a carbon-negative protein production process by 2030 (considering the projected CO2 emissions from electricity in the EU: 0.096 kgCO2-eq/kWh) for formate, acetate, and ethanol (-1.1 up to 13 kgCO2-eq/kgproduct).

Insights from Mathematical Modelling into Process Control of Oxygen Transfer in Batch Stirred Tank Bioreactors for Reducing Energy Requirement

Significant energy savings can be made in aerobic stirred tank batch bioreactors by the manipulation of agitator power (Pag) and air flowrate per unit working volume (vvm). Control is often implemented to maintain the oxygen concentration in the bioreaction liquid (COL) at a constant value. This work used model simulations to show that controlling the Pag and vvm continuously over time, such that it is operated at or near the impeller flooding constraint results in the minimum energy requirement for oxygen transfer (strategy Cmin); however, this might prove impractical to control and operate in practice. As an alternative, the work shows that dividing the bioreaction time into a small number of constant Pag time segments (5–10), where a PID controller is used to control vvm to maintain COL constant in each segment, can achieve much of the energy saving that is associated with Cmin. During each time segment, vvm is increased and a sudden decrease in COL is used to detect the onset of flooding, after which there is a step increase in Pag. This sequence of Pag step increases continues until the bioreaction is completed. This practical control approach was shown to save most of the energy that is associated with Cmin.

Online monitoring of the respiratory quotient reveals metabolic phases during microaerobic 2,3-butanediol production with Bacillus licheniformis

Microaerobic cultivation conditions are often beneficial for the biotechnological production of reduced metabolites like 2,3-butanediol. However, due to oxygen limitation, process monitoring based on oxygen transfer rate, or dissolved oxygen measurement provides only limited information. In this study, online monitoring of the respiratory quotient is used to investigate the metabolic activity of Bacillus licheniformis DSM 8785 during mixed acid-2,3-butanediol production under microaerobic conditions. Thereby, the respiratory quotient provides valuable information about different metabolic phases. Based on partial reaction stoichiometries, the metabolic activity in each phase of the cultivation was revealed, explaining the course of the respiratory quotient. This provides profound information on the formation or consumption of glucose, 2,3-butanediol, ethanol and lactate, both, in shake flasks and stirred tank reactor cultivations. Furthermore, the average respiratory quotient correlates with the oxygen availability during the cultivation. Carbon mass balancing revealed that this reflects the increased formation of reduced metabolites with increasing oxygen limitation. The results clearly demonstrate that the respiratory quotient is a valuable online signal to reveal and understand the metabolic activity during microaerobic cultivations. The approach of combining respiratory quotient monitoring with stoichiometric considerations can be applied to other organisms and processes to define suitable cultivation conditions to produce the desired product spectrum.

Insights from Mathematical Modelling into Energy Requirement and Process Design of Continuous and Batch Stirred Tank Aerobic Bioreactors

Bioreaction kinetics, oxygen transfer and energy modelling were applied to stirred tank aerobic bioreactors. This was done to investigate how key input design variables influence bioreactor size, feed and wasted substrate, and electrical energy requirements for aeration and cooling, and to compare batch and continuous modes of operation. Oxygen concentration in the liquid is a key input design variable, but its selection is challenging as it can result in design trade-offs. Reducing its value caused a decrease in electrical energy requirement, however this tended to increase the working volume of the bioreactor. The minimum or near-to-minimum total energy requirement for oxygen transfer occurred when operating at the onset of flooding throughout the bioreaction time. For typical KS values, continuous mode of operation required a much smaller bioreactor volume, due to higher operating cell concentration, and this is a major advantage of continuous over batch.

Assessment of upstream bioprocessing

Depending on the purpose and use, bioprocesses are carried out in order to reduce, maintain or increase the molar O/C ratio of biomass as the initial substrate. Cascade use considers the holistic and efficient use of biomass. In the current debate of biomass use, however, one may admit that an efficient use of biomass can further be based on the maintenance of initially present molar O/C ratio and functionality. In this regard, what compound should be formed that possesses highest functionality and similar molar O/C ratio as the substrate? How much energy should be spent on bioprocesses for the conversion of biomass under aerobic or anaerobic conditions? This study discusses and contributes to the efficiency assessment of aerobic and anaerobic bioprocesses based on chemical functionality and molar O/C ratio and their scale-depended energy need for creating appropriate environmental conditions for biological agents.

Application of Mathematical Modelling to Reducing and Minimising Energy Requirement for Oxygen Transfer in Batch Stirred Tank Bioreactors

In this study, microbial kinetic and oxygen transfer modelling coupled with energy analysis was applied to investigate how manipulation and control of agitator power input and air flowrate can reduce and minimise the total energy requirement in a batch aerobic bioprocess subject to constraints. The study showed that major energy savings can be made by appropriate selection of these variables and how they are controlled throughout a bioprocess. In many bioprocesses, the oxygen concentration in the liquid is controlled at a constant value. This may be achieved by maintaining the agitator power at a constant value and varying the air flowrate or vice versa, or by continuously varying both. The modelling showed that the minimum or near-minimum total energy requirement occurred when operating at the onset of impeller flooding throughout the bioprocess by continuously varying both impeller power and air flowrate over the bioprocess time. Operating at the onset of flooding may not be practical to implement in practice. However, the minimum energy can be approached by dividing the bioprocess time into a small number of time segments with appropriately chosen constant agitator powers and varying the air flowrate within each segment. This is much more practical to implement.

Characterization of Endogenous and Reduced Promoters for Oxygen-Limited Processes Using Escherichia coli

Oxygen limitation can be used as a simple environmental inducer for the expression of target genes. However, there is scarce information on the characteristics of microaerobic promoters potentially useful for cell engineering and synthetic biology applications. Here, we characterized the Vitreoscilla hemoglobin promoter (P_vgb) and a set of microaerobic endogenous promoters in Escherichia coli. Oxygen-limited cultures at different maximum oxygen transfer rates were carried out. The FMN-binding fluorescent protein (FbFP), which is a nonoxygen dependent marker protein, was used as a reporter. Fluorescence and fluorescence emission rates under oxygen-limited conditions were the highest when FbFP was under transcriptional control of P_adhE, P_pfl and P_vgb. The lengths of the E. coli endogenous promoters were shortened by 60%, maintaining their key regulatory elements. This resulted in improved promoter activity in most cases, particularly for P_adhE, P_pfl and P_narK. Selected promoters were also evaluated using an engineered E. coli strain expressing Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb). The presence of the VHb resulted in a better repression using these promoters under aerobic conditions, and increased the specific growth and fluorescence emission rates under oxygen-limited conditions. These results are useful for the selection of promoters for specific applications and for the design of modified artificial promoters.