Abstract
The enzymatic production of trehalose from dextrins was studied as a series reaction in a packed bed reactor containing immobilized recombinant Escherichia coli cells, expressing either the Sulfolobus solfataricus (strain MT4) trehalosyl-dextrin forming enzyme (TDFE) or the trehalose-forming enzyme (TFE). The cells, subjected to thermal treatments to increase cell permeability and to inactivate the unwanted host proteins, were entrapped separately or together in a calcium alginate polymeric matrix. The biocatalyst beads were used to pack a tubular glass reactor that was operated in a recycle mode. The performances of a bioreactor containing alternate layers of EcTFE and EcTDFE alginate beads were evaluated and compared with the performance of the co-immobilized biocatalysts. The latter showed a superior throughput, therefore the bioreactor packed with the co-entrapped biocatalysts was tested for the production of trehalose from concentrated dextrin solutions (10%–30% w/v) and a conversion up to 90% was obtained. This conversion corresponded to a production of 127 g trehalose h–1 kg–1 of biocatalyst. The results obtained suggest that the bioprocess described may be of interest in the development of a large-scale industrial process for trehalose production at high temperature.
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Di Lernia, I., Schiraldi, C., Generoso, M. et al. Trehalose production at high temperature exploiting an immobilized cell bioreactor. Extremophiles 6, 341–347 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-001-0263-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-001-0263-2