Er. Flores et al., SCALE-UP OF BACILLUS-THURINGIENSIS FERMENTATION BASED ON OXYGEN-TRANSFER, Journal of fermentation and bioengineering, 83(6), 1997, pp. 561-564
A correlation between spore productivity and k(L)a, was found for Baci
llus thuringiensis var. kurstaki. Since insecticidal crystal proteins
synthesis depends on the highly oxygen-dependent sporulation process,
the fermentation process was scale-up on the basis of the product k(L)
a p, where p is the fermenter total pressure. The process was scale-up
from a 14-l fermenter to a 1,100-l fermenter. Both reactors did not h
ave the same geometrical design. Even though the specific growth rate
decreased with the change of scale, the scale-up had a positive effect
, since the total fermentation time was decreased white the biomass yi
eld and the sporulation efficiency were unchanged. Therefore k(L)a p i
s a practical tool for scaling up B. thuringiensis processes where pro
duct synthesis depends on sporulation.