Gc. Paul et Cr. Thomas, A STRUCTURED MODEL FOR HYPHAL DIFFERENTIATION AND PENICILLIN PRODUCTION USING PENICILLIUM-CHRYSOGENUM, Biotechnology and bioengineering, 51(5), 1996, pp. 558-572
A structured kinetic model describing growth, differentiation, and pen
icillin production in submerged Penicillium chrysogenum fermentations
is reported. The filamentous hyphae are divided into four distinct reg
ions on the basis of the activities and structure of hyphal compartmen
ts, viz., actively growing (mainly apical) regions, nongrowifig or pen
icillin producing regions, vacuoles, and degenerated or metabolically
inactive regions. A mechanistic approach is taken to give quantitative
descriptions of differentiation and degeneration as a consequence of
vacuolation. The growth and degeneration of vacuoles are expressed in
the form of a population balance. The model assumes that newly generat
ed vacuoles appear by differentiation of healthy regions, grow in size
with limitation of available substrate, and eventually give rise to e
mpty hyphal compartments. In the model the penicillin production is re
lated to the amounts of the nongrowing regions of the hyphae. The mode
l is used for successful predictions of the amounts of the four hyphal
regions and the penicillin G production rate throughout the fed-batch
fermentations of an industrial P. chrysogenum strain under different
glucose feeding regimes. Quantitative information on proportions of th
e hyphal regions was obtained from image analysis measurements and the
parameters of the kinetic model were identified. When the glucose fee
d rate to the production culture is switched between a high and a low
value, the model can successfully predict the dynamic changes of diffe
rentiation and the resulting penicillin production caused by the varia
tions in the nutrient conditions. The use of image analysis to charact
erize differentiation as a basis for structured modeling of the penici
llin fermentation appears to be very powerful, and the method has grea
t potential for use in process simulation and control of antibiotic fe
rmentations. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.