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Development of a Strategy to Improve the Stability of Culture Environment for Docosahexaenoic Acid Fermentation by Schizochytrium sp.

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Abstract

A stable culture environment is the key for optimal growth and metabolic activity of microorganisms, especially in marine species, and intermittent feeding during DHA production using Schizochytrium sp. generates an unstable culture environment. To investigate the effect of unstable culture environment on the cells’ physiological status and DHA synthesis, fermentations with different feeding strategies were performed on the lab scale. The intermittent feeding strategy caused fluctuations of substrate concentration and osmotic pressure, which had a negative effect on cell division and product synthesis. The physiological status and metabolic level of Schizochytrium sp. were relatively stable under a continuous feeding strategy with a relatively stable substrate concentration of 20–25 g/L, which was beneficial for the efficient transformation of substrate, leading to an improvement of DHA productivity. This strategy was further applied to pilot scale, whereby the DHA content, DHA productivity, convert ratio of glucose to lipid and DHA reached 55.02%, 320.17 mg/(L·h), 24.35%, and 13.40%, respectively. This study therefore provides an efficient strategy for ensuring a stable culture environment for the production of DHA and similar metabolites.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFC1604104), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21376002, 21476111, and 21606192), the Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. BK20131405), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Food Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, NO. 1, Wenyuan Road, Nanjing, 210023, People’s Republic of China

    Dong-Sheng Guo & Ling-Ling Tong

  2. College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, No. 30 South Puzhu Road, Nanjing, 211816, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-Jun Ji & Lu-Jing Ren

  3. Department of Geriatric Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Qing-Qing Ding

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  1. Dong-Sheng Guo
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Correspondence to Qing-Qing Ding.

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Highlights

• Intermittent feeding caused fluctuation of substrate content and osmotic stress.

• The Physiological of Schizochytrium sp in unstable culture environment was studied.

• Fatty acid metabolism in Schizochytrium sp at different osmotic stress was studied.

• The DHA efficient production was realized by a continuous feeding strategy.

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Guo, DS., Tong, LL., Ji, XJ. et al. Development of a Strategy to Improve the Stability of Culture Environment for Docosahexaenoic Acid Fermentation by Schizochytrium sp.. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 192, 881–894 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-020-03298-7

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