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Filamentous fungi in microtiter plates—an easy way to optimize itaconic acid production with Aspergillus terreus

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Abstract

Itaconic acid is an important industrial building block and is produced by the filamentous fungi Aspergillus terreus. To make the optimization process more efficient, a scale-down from shake flasks to microtiter plates was performed. This resulted in comparable product formations, and 87.7 g/L itaconic acid was formed after 10 days of cultivation in the microtiter plate. The components of the minimal medium were varied independently for a media optimization. This resulted in an increase of the itaconic acid concentration by a variation of the KH2PO4 and CuSO4 concentrations. The cultivation with a higher KH2PO4 concentration in a 400-mL bioreactor showed an increase in the maximum productivity of 1.88 g/L/h, which was an increase of 74 % in comparison to the reference. Neither the phosphate concentration nor the nitrogen sources were limited at the start of the product formation. This showed that a limitation of these substances is not necessary for the itaconic acid formation.

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks for the financial support by the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. (grant no. 22020908).

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  1. Thünen-Institute of Agricultural Technology, Bundesallee 50, 38116, Braunschweig, Germany

    Antje Hevekerl, Anja Kuenz & Klaus-Dieter Vorlop

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  1. Antje Hevekerl
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  2. Anja Kuenz
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  3. Klaus-Dieter Vorlop
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Correspondence to Anja Kuenz.

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Hevekerl, A., Kuenz, A. & Vorlop, KD. Filamentous fungi in microtiter plates—an easy way to optimize itaconic acid production with Aspergillus terreus . Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 98, 6983–6989 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-5743-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-5743-2

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