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Enhancing the yield of industrial Actinomycete fermentations

ReferenceBB/N023544/1
Principal Investigator / Supervisor Professor Paul Hoskisson
Co-Investigators /
Co-Supervisors		 Dr Iain Hunter
Institution University of Strathclyde
DepartmentInst of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sci
Funding typeResearch
Value (£) 696,737
StatusCompleted
TypeResearch Grant
Start date 01/08/2016
End date 31/07/2019
Duration36 months

Abstract

A new and radical approach to strain construction is needed for the UK to remain competitive in manufacturing off-patent antibiotics. Antibiotic fermentation processes balance nutrients and cell growth rate with the chemical and physical environments. Cellular output is traditionally improved by selecting higher-producing mutants and optimising fermentation media. However, many antibiotics are unstable in the extracellular environment, with well characterised relationships between pH and degradation rate. The pH range for operation of the biological system often conflicts with the optimum for chemical stability of the product. For an established commercial process we propose to utilise recent advances in synthetic biology and genomics to develop a bacterial strain and industrial fermentation process capable of operating at a lower pH, facilitating stability of the desired product.

Summary

A new and radical approach to strain construction is needed for the UK to remain competitive in manufacturing off-patent antibiotics. Antibiotic fermentation processes balance nutrients and cell growth rate with the chemical and physical environments. Cellular output is traditionally improved by selecting higher-producing mutants and optimising fermentation media. However, many antibiotics are unstable in the extracellular environment, with well characterised relationships between pH and degradation rate. The pH range for operation of the biological system often conflicts with the optimum for chemical stability of the product. For an established commercial process we propose to utilise recent advances in synthetic biology and genomics to develop a bacterial strain and industrial fermentation process capable of operating at a lower pH, facilitating stability of the desired product.

Impact Summary

As described in proposal submitted to IUK
Committee Research Committee A (Animal disease, health and welfare)
Research TopicsIndustrial Biotechnology, Microbiology, Pharmaceuticals, Synthetic Biology
Research PriorityX – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative Industrial Biotechnology Catalyst (IBCAT) [2014-2015]
Funding SchemeX – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme
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