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β-Sitosterol Bioconversion in Small-Scale Devices: From Microtiter Plates to Microfluidic Reactors

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Microbial Steroids

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2704))

Abstract

Small-scale devices are routinely used as low-cost miniaturized bioreactors due to the large number of experiments that can be conducted simultaneously under similar conditions and replicate all functions of bench-scale reactors at dramatically smaller volumes. Microtiter plates, due to the standard footprint, can be integrated with liquid handling systems and associated equipment, expanding considerably their application and use. However, care has to be taken to operate the microtiter plates in optimized mixing and oxygen transfer conditions, preventing medium evaporation in prolonged experiment runs. Recently, to increase data quality, microbioreactors have emerged as an alternative to shaken systems. These systems offer higher degree of control over key process variables and when combined with sensing technology increase dramatically the reliability of translational process data. In this chapter, we describe the production of 4-androstene-3,17-dione (androstenedione (AD)), a key pharmaceutical steroid intermediate, by Mycobacterium sp. NRRL B-3805 via the selective cleavage of the side-chain of β-sitosterol using 24-well microtiter plates and microfluidic microbioreactors.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London, London, UK

    Marco P. C. Marques & Jorge Aranda Hernandez

  2. iBB—Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Pedro Fernandes

  3. Associate Laboratory i4HB—Institute for Health and Bioeconomy at Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

    Pedro Fernandes

  4. Faculty of Engineering, Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Lisbon, Portugal

    Pedro Fernandes

Authors
  1. Marco P. C. Marques
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  2. Jorge Aranda Hernandez
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  3. Pedro Fernandes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco P. C. Marques .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Área de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Departamento de Biología Molecular, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, León, Spain

    Carlos Barreiro

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Curia Spain, León, Spain

    José-Luis Barredo

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© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

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Marques, M.P.C., Aranda Hernandez, J., Fernandes, P. (2023). β-Sitosterol Bioconversion in Small-Scale Devices: From Microtiter Plates to Microfluidic Reactors. In: Barreiro, C., Barredo, JL. (eds) Microbial Steroids. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2704. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3385-4_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3385-4_12

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-3384-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-3385-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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